Chris Patterson on GitHub Actions - Episode 95

Joining the podcast today is Chris Patterson! Chris is the Staff Product Manager for GitHub Actions at GitHub. He has been in the software industry for more than 20 years. In that time, he has worked on a variety of projects at companies ranging from startups to telecom. Prior to coming to GitHub, he spent 14 years as a Principal Program Manager on Azure DevOps at Microsoft.

In this episode, Jeffrey and Chris take a deep dive into GitHub Actions. Chris gives an update on everything new going on with GitHub and GitHub Actions both from a personal perspective and from the recent announcements that were made at the Microsoft Build and GitHub Satellite conferences. Chris also shares some information regarding GitHub Enterprise Server and what the future roadmap is looking like for GitHub Actions!

Topics of Discussion:

[:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes.

[:48] About the recent Microsoft Build Conference and The Azure DevOps Podcast.

[1:55] About today's episode with Chris Patterson!

[2:23] Jeffrey welcomes Chris to the show!

[2:42] Chris speaks about his current role at GitHub.

[4:00] How separate is GitHub from Microsoft? Or would Chris consider them more integrated?

[5:50] Chris compares the model to that of Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn.

[7:08] What Chris loves the most about working for GitHub.

[7:46] How many time zones does Chris work across?

[8:16] Is most of their team still in the pacific time zone or is it pretty evenly distributed?

[9:44] Chris catches listeners up on the recent important announcements from Microsoft Build and GitHub Satellite — especially in regards to GitHub Actions and GitHub Enterprise Server.

[17:27] Chris elaborates on the strategy regarding integration, credentials, and connections to other services.

[18:21] Chris speaks about the changelog on the GitHub blog and why they've decided to take a pause with it.

[19:10] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast's sponsor: Clear Measure.

[19:35] Jeffrey shares some quick announcements.

[21:26] Where is GitHub Actions headed? What's not there now but is on the roadmap for the future?

[24:49] Chris speaks more about the core capabilities they're working towards with GitHub Actions.

[28:16] Is it called "hosted build agents" in GitHub?

[28:48] If the GitHub hosted runners don't have a dependency that's needed for the build process, you could fall back into a self-hosted. But for some of the really small dependencies, what does Chris recommend? Is this something that's being worked on to try and make it easier to not fall back to a self-hosted? Or is it not part of the purview of the team?

[31:30] Is being able to save a new container image in a container registry far in the future or available today in GitHub Actions?

[33:34] Is Chris' current focus entirely on the new features of GitHub Actions? What else is he up to?

[35:00] Chris highlights some of the language and platforms he has learned about recently that he has found particularly interesting and unique.

[39:20] Is the correct terminology "action pipelines" or "series of actions" in reference to GitHub Actions?

[40:11] For a business application, would there typically be one workflow or a series of workflows?

[40:35] Jeffrey thanks Chris for joining the podcast!

Mentioned in this Episode:

Azure DevOps

Clear Measure (Sponsor)

.NET DevOps for Azure: A Developer's Guide to DevOps Architecture the Right Way, by Jeffrey Palermo — Available on Amazon!

bit.ly/dotnetdevopsebook — Click here to download the .NET DevOps for Azure ebook!

Jeffrey Palermo's Youtube

Jeffrey Palermo's Twitter — Follow to stay informed about future events!

Jeffrey@Clear-Measure.com — Email Jeffrey for a free 30-point DevOps inspection (regularly priced at $5000!) — Spaces are limited!

Chris Patterson's LinkedIn

Chris Patterson's Twitter

The Azure DevOps Podcast: "Chris Patterson on the Future of Azure Pipelines - Episode 015"

Azure Pipelines

GitHub Actions

GitHub Satellite

GitHub Enterprise

Microsoft Flow

Zapier

Changelog on the GitHub Blog

The Azure DevOps Podcast: "Elton Stoneman on the State of Containers — Episode 94"

Rust (Programming Language)
IBM Power Systems

COBOL

Micro Focus - Visual COBOL

Want to Learn More?

Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.