Introduction to CI/CD

CI/CD, short for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery, is a part of the DevOps process. “It is a collection of principles and practices designed to help development teams ensure the reliable delivery of frequent code changes.”

DevOps vs. CI/CD

Category DevOps CI CD
Purpose Facilitate collaboration and efficiency across the development lifecycle. Automate testing to ensure code compatibility. Automate deployment for seamless software releases.
Methods
  • Implement automation to streamline collaboration between development and operations teams.
  • Use infrastructure as code (IaC) to provision and manage infrastructure.
  • Integrate continuous feedback loops to gather insights from stakeholders and improve processes iteratively.
  • Automate the build and testing process for every code change.
  • Identify integration issues early in the development lifecycle.
  • Support the principle of "fail fast" by providing rapid feedback to developers.
  • Encompass both Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment.
  • Automate the deployment process to production environments.
  • Enable organizations to release software updates quickly and reliably while minimizing risks.
Key Benefits
  • Promotes a culture of shared responsibility and accountability.
  • Emphasizes the importance of automating repetitive tasks to reduce manual errors and increase efficiency.
  • Focuses on delivering value to customers through rapid and iterative development cycles.
  • Increases code quality by identifying issues early in the development process.
  • Speeds up the development cycle by automating build and testing processes.
  • Enables rapid feedback to developers for quick iterations.
  • Accelerates time to market by automating deployment processes.
  • Minimizes risks associated with manual deployments.
  • Enhances overall software reliability and stability.

References

Expand 1. Ashtari, Hossein et al. “Key Differences between CI/CD and DevOps.” Spiceworks, www.spiceworks.com/tech/devops/articles/cicd-vs-devops/. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
2. Ferringer, Megan. “Here’s the Difference between CI/CD and Devops-and How They Work Together to Drive Innovation.” Navisite, 2 Mar. 2023, www.navisite.com/blog/insights/ci-cd-vs-devops/.
3. “What the Hell Are CI/CD and DevOps? A Cheatsheet for the Rest of Us.” Mind the Product, www.mindtheproduct.com/what-the-hell-are-ci-cd-and-devops-a-cheatsheet-for-the-rest-of-us/. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
4. “The IDEAL & Practical CI / CD Pipeline - Concepts Overview.” YouTube, 17 Feb. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPwU3UWCxhw.
5. Morg, Brad. “How to Design a Modern CI/CD Pipeline.” YouTube, 17 Oct. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnSBNd3b0qI.
6. Morg, Brad. “How to Design a Deployment Pipeline (GitOps).” YouTube, 30 Oct. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ9f7w4AxtU.