In our series on startup hints & tricks here hints 17 & 18:

17 – Use puppet

No, this blog post is not about a child’s doll. They’re lovely and my daughter loves them very much. This post is about a software tool – better a framework – with the name Puppet.

After months of development you application is ready for deployment. Quickly install the application on the live servers and then off to the release party. Quite often the next day brings a hangover – not because of the party.

Software development and software updates are often underestimated in their complexity. Starting with the third live server things get more complicated still.

How to deal with this? Use Puppet!

Puppet is a software framework that enables automated deployment scripts and helps you control their execution. We employ Puppet to deploy entire batteries of servers and the applications than atop.

You may be need a little help to get into Puppet. But once up and running it’s well worth it.

18 – Automated testing

Wit the launch days away most startups focus on getting it done. If achieving this goal requires a compromise quality is often the accidental victim.

Goal achieved, successful launch past you, the ensuing spaghetti code may accompany you for a while. And as always, errors strike in the most unexpected and most unwanted moments. A simple yet powerful remedy is automated software testing.

Tools such as Selenium help you to set these tests up, run the tests and control its’ outcomes.