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How does AnthillPro help me implement an Agile development methodology and Continuous Integration?

Agile methodologies differ from the so called "heavyweight" processes in one fundamental way: rather than assuming that the development process is predictable, Agile methodologies assume that the process is unpredictable. This fundamental difference in the basic "world view" between Agile and heavyweight methodologies is responsible for all the other (perhaps more visible) differences between the two.

Heavyweight methodologies, since they assume that the development process is predictable, spend a great deal of effort predicting the process. That's why monumental project plans are created at the start of any heavyweight project. Once the process is "predicted," a great deal of effort then goes into trying to make the actual process correspond to the prediction.

Agile methodologies, rather than spending energy trying to predict the process, focus on managing what is acknowledged to be an unpredictable process. The key to managing any unpredictable process is feedback. This where AnthillPro comes in.

AnthillPro can be configured to produce builds of your projects at either regular intervals or based on triggers that detect source code commits. Each time AnthillPro produces a software build, it can run automated tests (unit tests, integration tests, smoke tests, performance tests, etc.). AnthillPro can also run separate jobs to verify the validity of produced build artifacts. Essentially, by doing the builds, running automated tests, and verifying the builds, AnthillPro provides the feedback that is an indispensable part of any Agile methodology.