What does a Build and Release Developer do?

Question

I need someone give me career advice about the Build and Release Developer role.

I don't know exactly what the Build and Release Developer does.

1. What's the difference between the Build and Release Developer and a regular product Developer?
2. Do they have the same skill requirements or does the regular product Developer need higher skill requirements?
3. What do BRE Developers do in their work?
4. Is this a good career choice for a software developer?
5. Does BRE developer have the same competitiveness as the regular developer? Or less competitiveness?

Answer 1

The Build and Release developer position likely requires preparing installer packages and helper functions for them and maintaining the nightly/daily/automatic build. Regular developers usually don't do those things if they have a dedicated person - lots of specific knowledge is required. So it's less usual programming and more playing with other tools - installer, build scripts, etc.

The person in this position has to be extra patient, extra dedicated to numerous details and very-very-very humble - his work is usually not perceived as adding value to the product - he just does stuff necessary to turn the ton of executable files into an installer package that a user can download and install in several clicks.

Answer 2

1. First of all, understand that there are many different kinds of developers. Where I work now, I am an applications developer but I'm customizing commercial software for my employer. Thus, they go out and buy some big software package that is very flexible and customizable and I get to be part of the team doing the customizations. For example, a recent CMS project involving taking a Sitecore CMS and customizing it for how my employer's site is structured and talking with other systems like the CRM. In previous positions I did work on the service the company provided which was a web-based application, so while it was a product the product was sold but rather used by customers on an as-needed basis.

2. No, they have different requirements. The build and release developer may know more about source control and managing various branches of code than the regular developer. There may be cases where the regular developer isn't even familiar with source control, which may be shocking to some but it can happen. The BRE may also be familiar with load balancers and how to move code and data between environments that a regular developer may or may not know.

3. They are likely responsible for knowing what code base is in which environment, what showstopping bugs are needed to get fixed before releasing code into production, documenting the procedure for releasing software and communicating with project managers, product managers, testers, etc.

4. This depends a lot on the person. Some people like digging into the mechanics of how something goes live and moving things around, while others may not want to do something so repetitive.

5. This depends more on how the organization uses the role. In some places, it may hurt you as you'll get familiar with scripts and running automated builds and tests which may mean that some coding skills get rusty. At the same time, it may mean that you become a bit of a technical lead as you'll be the gatekeeper of when does code move and making sure it all moved correctly. Where I am now and previously there have been individuals or teams that handled builds and releases so I have seen people that do that but I don't know how well they were paid or other details that may be of importance to you.