MinimumCD

The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast · 23 Apr 2025 · 47m

What this episode covers

Hosts Jeff Gable and Luca Engineer discuss Minimum CD, a set of essential practices for continuous delivery that serves as a counter-movement to heavyweight frameworks like SAFe. They detail core principles including trunk-based development, pipeline-driven deployments, and automated testing, emphasizing that these practices build trust in the development process. The conversation highlights specific challenges in embedded systems, such as maintaining production-like test environments and implementing rollback capabilities for connected IoT devices. The hosts argue that while these practices are difficult to implement, they are increasingly valuable as devices become more sophisticated and connected.

Mentioned

Companies
Embedded Artistry, Mend Fault, Apple
Also
Minimum CD, SAFe, Brian Finster, Philip Johnston, Francois, Raymond Chen, Linux, Windows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Embedded.fm · 1h 23m

    440: Condemned to Being Perfect

    Elecia White and Chris White host a crossover episode with Jeff Gable and Luca Ingianni of the Agile Embedded podcast to debate the application of Agile principles to embedded systems. The group discusses redefining Agile as 'risk management through feedback loops' rather than rigid Scrum, and explores the challenges of scaling these practices in large enterprises versus small teams. They also tackle specific technical debates, including the role of unit testing, the definition of Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) for hardware, and the necessity of documentation in regulated industries like medical devices.

  • Over the Air · 34m

    Revolutionizing IoT Device Management: Updating the World with Peridio

    Bill Brock, COO, and Justin Schneck, CPO, of Peridio, discuss the challenges of managing IoT device fleets and their platform's approach to device-centric CI/CD. They explain why web development abstractions fail in embedded systems, highlighting the critical need for atomic updates to prevent 'bricked' devices from power failures or poor connectivity. The conversation covers the shift from simple sensors to complex edge AI, requiring collaborative workflows that bridge embedded engineers, data scientists, and web developers. They argue that current cloud providers offer scale but lack the necessary collaboration tools and safety nets for physical device distribution.

  • Embedded.fm · 53m

    16: Democracy Is the Worst Form of Government

    Curtis Cole, a veteran embedded systems engineer and former VP of Engineering at Leapfrog, argues that Agile methodologies like Scrum and Test-Driven Development (TDD) are effective for embedded software when adapted to hardware constraints. He explains how user stories, sprints, and story points allow teams to manage unknown requirements and deliver incremental, usable prototypes without compromising the final product's stability. Cole emphasizes that Agile is merely a process tool; success depends on hiring skilled engineers who prioritize quality, testing, and modular design over mere speed.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 20m

    Firmware Deployment and Troubleshooting with Akbar Dhanaliwala

    Chris Gammell, founder of Lager Data, explains how his experiences with companies like SolarCity, Ringly, and Minna Life revealed the tedious nature of embedded firmware testing, inspiring the creation of the Lager Gateway platform. He details how the system enables continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) for embedded devices by allowing engineers to run unit and system tests, flash firmware, and debug remotely from a command line without physical lab access. Gammell highlights the use of Dockerized build environments and integration with GitHub Actions to automate testing, ensuring that changes to firmware do not break device functionality or over-the-air update capabilities.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 19m

    Firmware for Hardware Engineers with Phillip Johnston

    Phillip Johnston of Embedded Artistry explains how hardware engineers can improve firmware quality by adopting software engineering practices like separation of concerns, information hiding, and loose coupling. He details the implementation of Continuous Integration (CI) pipelines using tools like Jenkins and GitHub Actions to automate testing, static analysis, and hardware-in-the-loop checks. Johnston also discusses the strategic shift from bare-metal development to ecosystems like Zephyr RTOS and the importance of designing for change to mitigate supply chain risks.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.