How do you measure the success of your mobile app's continuous integration process?

1 Build Success Rate

One of the most basic and important metrics to track is the build success rate, which measures how often your code changes pass the automated build and test stages. A high build success rate indicates that your code is stable, consistent, and error-free, while a low build success rate suggests that there are frequent issues, bugs, or conflicts that need to be resolved. You can use tools like Jenkins, Travis CI, or Bitrise to monitor and report your build success rate over time and across different branches, platforms, and environments.

2 Build Duration

Another metric that reflects the efficiency and performance of your CI process is the build duration, which measures how long it takes to complete the build and test stages. A short build duration means that you can deliver your code changes faster and more frequently, while a long build duration can slow down your feedback loop and release cycle. You can use tools like Gradle, Xcode, or Firebase Test Lab to measure and optimize your build duration by using parallelization, caching, incremental builds, and other techniques.

3 Code Coverage

Code coverage is a metric that measures how much of your code is tested by your automated tests. Code coverage can help you assess the quality and completeness of your test suite, as well as identify any gaps or risks in your code. A high code coverage percentage means that your code is well-tested and less prone to errors, while a low code coverage percentage means that there are parts of your code that are not verified by your tests. You can use tools like JaCoCo, Xcode, or SonarQube to generate and analyze your code coverage reports.

4 Code Quality

Code quality is a metric that measures how well your code follows the best practices, standards, and conventions of your programming language and framework. Code quality can help you improve the readability, maintainability, and security of your code, as well as prevent potential bugs, vulnerabilities, or technical debt. You can use tools like Lint, SwiftLint, or Code Climate to check and enforce your code quality rules, such as naming, formatting, complexity, duplication, and documentation.

5 User Feedback

User feedback is a metric that measures how your users perceive and respond to your mobile app's features, functionality, and performance. User feedback can help you validate your assumptions, understand your user needs, and prioritize your improvements. You can use tools like App Store Connect, Google Play Console, or Firebase Analytics to collect and analyze your user feedback data, such as ratings, reviews, crash reports, retention rates, and engagement metrics.

By tracking and evaluating these metrics, you can measure the success of your mobile app's CI process and identify any areas of improvement. You can also use these metrics to communicate and demonstrate the value and impact of your CI process to your stakeholders, clients, and users.