GUI for Fine-Coarse Source Code Deployment via Version Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Citizen developers, with little to no coding experience, face challenges in integrating DevOps best practices such as version control systems, fine/coarse-grained deployments, and environment management due to the lack of point-and-click interfaces that support these advanced features, increasing the risk of errors in critical systems.
Innovation Solution
A graphical user interface (GUI) and associated functionality that enables citizen developers to integrate source code changes into version control systems without command line executables, maps environment topologies to version control branches, verifies changes through configurable checks, and supports fine/coarse-grained deployments and status tracking, all within a user-friendly point-and-click environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If citizen developers use point-and-click tools for fast application development, then development speed is improved, but integration with DevOps best practices deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a graphical user interface (GUI) as an intermediary layer between citizen developers and version control systems. This GUI mediates the interaction by providing point-and-click access to version control operations (commit, branch, merge, deploy) without requiring developers to use command line tools. The GUI translates user-friendly actions into proper version control commands, enabling fast development while maintaining integration with DevOps practices.
2Ease of operation
If citizen developers lack coding experience, then ease of operation is improved, but ability to use version control systems deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a simplified copy or representation of version control operations through the graphical user interface. Instead of exposing the complex command-line interface of version control systems, the GUI presents visual metaphors (buttons, menus, drag-and-drop elements) that mirror the actual version control actions. This copying approach allows citizen developers to perform version control operations intuitively without needing to understand the underlying complex syntax and commands.
3Manufacturing precision
If fine-grained deployment is implemented, then deployment precision is improved, but operation complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by breaking down the deployment process into distinct, manageable components within the graphical interface. The system allows users to select and deploy individual work items, code modules, or specific changes separately rather than requiring deployment of entire applications. This segmentation is presented through the GUI which organizes deployable units into clear categories and provides separate controls for each, making fine-grained deployment precise yet operationally simple.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, computer readable media, and devices for supporting fine/coarse-grained deployment of source code to environments via version control systems are disclosed. One method may include integrating, via a graphical user interface (GUI), source code into a version control system, mapping, via the GUI, an environment topology to the version control system, verifying a source code change based on a set of configurable checks, deploying, via the GUI, the source code change into one environment of the environment topology, and tracking, via the GUI, a status of the source code change.