What is CI/CD?
Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery are methods of delivering apps to customers by introducing automation at every stage of app development. Continuous Integration focuses on automatically creating and testing code, whereas continuous delivery automates the whole software release process up to production.
Continuous Integration is a software development process where the team members use a version control system to incorporate their work towards the same location. This allows easy verification as well as rectification of any possible errors as soon as possible.
Continuous delivery, on the other side, is a software development technique that automates the entire release process. Each software modification is automatically developed, tested, and deployed to the production system.
Elements of CI/CD
Elements of Continuous Integration
- Version control system
- Branching strategy
- Self-triggered builds
- Code coverage
- Static code analysis
- Automated testing
- Binary repository tools
- Automated packaging
Elements of Continuous Delivery
- Sprints
- Automated Deployment
- Operational acceptance testing
- Deployable software
- test automation
- security testing
- continuous Integration
- deployment pipeline
- release management
- version control
- user acceptance testing
- Automated packaging.
Difference Between CI and CD
Continuous Integration is incorporating code into a common main code base so testing and rectification can happen faster. Special tools or platforms are designed for this purpose, so it is easier to implement it.
However, on the other side, Continuous Delivery is rather difficult to implement as it involves a procedure that occurs after the code is integrated and before it is delivered to the end users. In addition, it involves developing—testing, and deploying. Therefore, there is no single tool for all these processes.
Best CI/CD Practices
Maintain the Code every day
Everyone needs to commit the changes in the code to other team members by updating it to the mainline. A series of automated tests starts after each commit to the mainline, so quick feedback on the modification can be provided quickly. In addition, regular maintenance of the code can avoid the chances of severe merge disputes when merging significant, complicated changes.
Automate your build
A system should have the ability to be built with a single command. Many tools available in the market can help automate the development process and build the code efficiently and quickly.
Streamline your tests
Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery are about providing rapid feedback and faster software delivery. Therefore, one needs to streamline the tests to gather input as soon as possible. Tests that finish faster needs to be completed first to get feedback quickly. And only invest in the longer test after modification to get positive feedback. This saves a lot of time.
Check and maintain your environments regularly
Between each deployment, it is necessary to clean up the pre-production environment. When the environments are kept running for a long time, it becomes hard to monitor the changes and keep track of the updates. They can diverge from their original setup or separate from each other. This can affect the process of software development.
Monitor and measure your pipeline
Your CI/CD Pipeline needs a feedback loop too. You can identify the possible problems and needs for improvements. There are many practices to maintain the pipeline, e.g., Comparing the build triggers, tracking the speed of deployment, reviewing test results, test statistics, etc.
Make it a team effort
CI/CD is not just about tools and processes. The best results are created by creating a shared responsibility among the team members. This can motivate everyone to contribute and get the best results.
Best CI/CD Tools
Jenkins
Jenkins is an open-source automation server that automates and speeds up the software development process. It manages all stages of a software development process, including developing, testing, packaging, staging, deploying, etc.
Team City
Team city is a cloud-based Continuous Integration and delivery server which JetBrains develop. It helps deliver quick feedback on each modification to the code and minimizes code integration issues. This ultimately results in the effective development of quality software faster.
Travis CI
Travis CI is an open-source tool hosted on GitHub to build and test software projects. It provides free service to any open-source project.
Gitlab
Gitlab is a cloud-based software tool hosted on its own website that helps develop, secure, and run software using a single application.
Circle CI
Circle CI is a cloud-based Continuous Integration tool that helps automate the integration process and focuses on testing the code whenever a change is implemented before deployment.
Codeship
Codeship is a tool hosted by CloudBees, a continuous integration and delivery tool that automatically deploys software if it passes a test and notifies the developer if it fails the tests. This leads to the quicker and automated delivery of software.
Get in Touch with us
CI/CD requires time and patience to be understood, and our experts at Promact can help you avoid some of the most prevalent issues when picking a CI/CD tool stack. In addition, our team will work out the best approach to set up testing procedures, where to automate, and best practice practices. If you’d like to learn more, please get in touch with us for a discussion.
To Conclude
From autonomous driving to medical diagnosis, from support with customer inquiries to quality control in production: The possible uses of artificial intelligence can be found in all industries. The fact that the use of AI is increasingly seen as a must and at the same time as an opportunity in the economy is a good sign.
