Full-Process Reliable Continuous Delivery: Methodology, Tools, and Practice in the C3 Project

The Application Development Department (Dept. 5) and the Project Management Office launched a research‑and‑practice project aimed at improving software delivery efficiency and quality. Using the C3 project group—covering multi‑team collaboration, parallel projects, diverse technology stacks, multi‑product/module coordination, multiple environments, and staggered deliveries—as a case study, they investigated the value stream, identified efficiency and risk points, and explored a full‑process software R&D management and version delivery method.

The C3 project group was deliberately chosen because it embodies the most uncertain and comprehensive set of scenarios, ensuring that any resulting solution would be broadly applicable across the development center.

After exploring mainstream branching strategies, the team proposed a Git‑based configuration‑management model suitable for all scenarios. The model supports both waterfall and agile development modes, enables large‑team collaborative development by combining team and feature branches, enforces multi‑level version merges (feature → test → release → main), and mandates two‑level code reviews for cross‑team and core code, thereby guaranteeing code quality and branch reliability.

Based on the model, two pipelines were designed: a test‑version delivery pipeline covering task assignment, branch creation, code commit, merge, smoke testing, and build release; and a production‑version release pipeline covering deployment request, pre‑release deployment, automated verification, and production build. These pipelines have been implemented in TFS for the C3 front‑end, currently in pilot testing.

Subsequent activities included the creation of a configuration‑management and continuous‑integration handbook, training sessions on the TFS + Git workflow, and a review meeting with senior management and technical experts. Feedback highlighted the need for risk control, stronger promotion, and balanced handling of agile and traditional processes.

Looking ahead, the team plans to extend continuous integration to the C3 back‑end (addressing TFS limitations on AIX), enrich the delivery pipeline with automated code checks, smoke tests, functional tests, and gray releases, and achieve end‑to‑end agile R&D—from requirement management to production deployment—thereby advancing the development center’s dual‑mode transformation.