IndyPy: Hot Takes on CI Tools We Use

IndyPy hosted its second hybrid event recently, and it was a big one.

The September 2022 edition of IndyPy — Indiana’s largest Python meetup founded in 2007 by Six Feet Up CTO and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Community Hero, Calvin Hendryx-Parker — featured a panel of three DevOps experts who fielded questions about their favorite CI/CD tools.

Top tech companies were represented on the panel, which consisted of:

• Anthony Shaw, of Microsoft Azure DevOps;
• John Chiao, of JFrog; and
• Stephan Rayner, of GitLab.

Panelists Field Questions about CI Tools

The evening began with a lightning round. Each panelist was given five minutes to pitch their preferred pipeline management tools to the crowd.

Chiao touted JFrog Pipelines’ integration with the JFrog platform, as well as integrations that make it a strong end-to-end solution for developers. Rayner, on the other hand, said GitLab provides an all-in-one solution that can handle project and code management, as well as integrate with GitHub and run self-hosted.

Shaw did double duty by diving into GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps Pipelines. He said the two share some of the same technical underpinnings and can both offer comprehensive workflow, task, and test management.

The three then fielded a range of audience questions, including:

• What’s one killer feature about your preferred platform?
• What’s one feature your platform doesn’t have that you wish it had?
• What sort of cloud integrations are possible with your preferred platform?
• How do you sell someone on getting a CI pipeline tool if they don’t have one?

Watch the Presentation

Did you miss the presentation? Watch the recording and explore tidbits via @IndyPy’s live Twitter thread.

Links and Resources

You can find Chiao on:

• GitHub: https://github.com/hchiao1
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/hchiao1

You can find Shaw on:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypshaw/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/anthonypjshaw
• GitHub: https://github.com/tonybaloney
• His website: https://tonybaloney.github.io

You can find Rayner on:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanrayner/
• GitLab: https://gitlab.com/stephan-rayner
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/rayner_stephan

The September event was part of IndyPy’s year-long, 15th anniversary celebration (May 2022 - April 2023). Food and beverages were on hand for in-person attendees at the Indiana IoT Lab and door prizes — including an Oculus from JFrog — were available for all. Join IndyPy every second Tuesday of the month, and sign up for event updates.