What is CI/CD?
CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (or Continuous Deployment). It’s a set of practices and principles designed to automate and accelerate the software development lifecycle, from code changes to production deployment.
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Continuous Integration (CI): Focuses on frequently merging code changes from multiple developers into a central repository. Each integration triggers automated builds and tests, catching integration errors early and often. This ensures that the codebase is always in a working state.
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Continuous Delivery (CD): Extends CI by automating the release process. After successful builds and tests, code changes are automatically prepared for deployment to various environments (staging, testing, production). Continuous Delivery typically requires a manual approval step before deploying to production.
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Continuous Deployment (CD – the other CD!): Takes automation a step further. With Continuous Deployment, every code change that passes all automated tests is automatically deployed to production, without any human intervention.
Why CI/CD is Essential for a Business Website and How It Works
In today’s competitive digital environment, speed and reliability are paramount. CI/CD is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity for businesses that want to thrive. Implementing CI/CD provides crucial advantages that directly impact your bottom line.
CI/CD works by creating an automated pipeline. This pipeline starts when a developer commits code changes. The pipeline then automatically handles building the software, running tests (unit tests, integration tests, acceptance tests), and, depending on your setup (Continuous Delivery or Continuous Deployment), prepares the software for release or automatically deploys it to your production environment. This automation eliminates manual steps, reduces the risk of human error, and significantly speeds up the entire process.
