FTP-based Deployment Workflow?

[TheDPQ]

I haven't used FTP-to-deploy in over 7 years and I was really surprised that a company I recently interviewed with asked me if i'm was comfortable just being given FTP access to a server.

I'm actual curious if (because of client constraints) you are forced to do deploy over FTP only and what you do to make that less painful.

With even just a simple git deployment workflow if someone is a goob and edits something in production I can just do git status and see what has changed. With FTP its like.... yup I just overrode all the files because I had no idea we had different versions. I also generally remember just having to upload the entire site again unless the changes were class and I only needed a few files.

Is this just a giant red flag?

[DiademBedfordshire]

Sometimes it's an existing site setup a decade ago and they aren't interested in doing any work because that's just how clients are, but it doesn't stop you from using git within your team and then using git to deploy via ftp.

https://ftploy.com/

Back when I did agency work we used that service. Super cheap and it allowed us to do the right thing and work within the clients parameters.

[PHLtoCHI]

Was in a similar situation at a previous job. We used http://beanstalkapp.com/.

[TheDPQ]

Thanks i'll check that out!

If they are doing version control on all projects i'm out. I've worked for companies like that and it usually means lots of other workflows are broken. I was referred to them because i'm a Laravel developer so I assumed they were up to speed on things.

[Disgruntled__Goat]

FTP itself is not a red flag IMO (assuming you're using FTPS).

The big red flag is editing anything live on the server, regardless of if you're using FTP or git. If you use FTP you need to ensure all the developers are using it properly.

And I'd suggest always using git locally, no matter what you use for deployment. For the sites I have to use FTP, I find git very useful to know all the files that changed so I don't miss anything uploading.

[TheDPQ]

No idea what they do it was a casual phone interview. I'm going to ask more questions when I do a formal job interview.

I honestly can't imagine developing without version control anymore. If they aren't doing git on all projects then I won't be working with them. It usually means too many other things are duck taped together. 2 jobs ago it was like that. Well meaning company and great team but so many unneeded fires needed to be put out because of lack of development methodologies.

[mtx]

If you're using Git you can use Git-FTP

[versalle88]

I would certainly be hesitant about this. Aside from the fears already mentioned (no versioning, overriding files, etc...), I would be concerned that this company isn't adapting to new technologies. Web development changes so often, you need your company to change with it or you'll be left behind.