What is CI/CD? It combines the various practices of Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery, hence the name CI/CD. The main goal of CI is to create something to deploy, while CD's purpose is to implement changes in the code continuously.
CI/CD, in its essence, is the deployment of an artifact and the deployment of code changes at the same time. This article will delve deeper into CI/CD to help you understand what it is and why it matters in software development.
Let us first focus on the principles of CI/CD to give you a brief idea of what CI/CD is all about. Let's start by sharing a few examples of it.
To allow for iterative releases with CI/CD, the design of the software is continuously updated while working as intended. The design is flexible or more "loose", allowing changes to the software without excess sacrifices or unnecessary tampering.
Another principle of CI/CD is allowing developers to quickly push new code into production-like environments, such as user acceptance testing (UAT). This principle helps ensure that once the software finally gets to its end-users, it is working fully.
Finally, CI/CD ensures the software's stability and quality under the autonomous engineering teams. The purpose of this is to break down the wall between traditional developers and operations groups, allowing teams to work closely together to achieve different goals.
The most significant benefit of CI/CD is minimising human error through the automation of various tasks. With the help of CD, the software produced can reach much higher quality, as automation crucially allows for continuous learning, discovery, and experimentation throughout the development process.
As a business, this reduction of human errors means one thing: reducing risk when delivering software. This reduction is due to the continuous testing of the software to catch any errors, bugs, and more, allowing more reliable software to be sent to the public. Also, with the added versatility of software build with CI/CD, businesses can offer a product that better suits the client's needs.
The ability to continuously deliver updates allows for faster feedback, ensuring higher quality updates. By implementing client feedback quickly, continuously and accurately, trust is also built, which is vital for long-lasting business relationships.
CI/CD has proven to be an effective way to develop software, thanks to its core principles and considerable benefits. If you are looking to produce quality software with continuous support, automated processes and optimised production time, implementing CI/CD is an excellent idea. It allows for easily implemented changes and functional deployment into relevant environments. CI/CD also is excellent for ensuring that those environments stay consistent throughout the development process.
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