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CI and CD stand for continuous integration and continuous delivery/continuous deployment. In very simple terms, CI is a modern software development practice in which incremental code changes are made frequently and reliably. Automated build-and-test steps triggered by CI ensure that code changes being merged into the repository are reliable. The code is then delivered quickly and seamlessly as a part of the CD process. In the software world, the CI/CD pipeline refers to the automation that enables incremental code changes from developers’ desktops to be delivered quickly and reliably to production.

Why is CI/CD important?

CI/CD allows organizations to ship software quickly and efficiently. CI/CD facilitates an effective process for getting products to market faster than ever before, continuously delivering code into production, and ensuring an ongoing flow of new features and bug fixes via the most efficient delivery method. 

What is the difference between CI and CD?

Continuous integration (CI) is a practice that involves developers making small changes and checks to their code. Due to the scale of requirements and the number of steps involved, this process is automated to ensure that teams can build, test, and package their applications in a reliable and repeatable way. CI helps streamline code changes, thereby increasing the time for developers to make changes and contribute to improved software.

Continuous delivery (CD) is the automated delivery of completed code to environments like testing and development. CD provides an automated and consistent way for code to be delivered to these environments.

Continuous deployment is the next step of continuous delivery. Every change that passes the automated tests is automatically placed in production, resulting in many production deployments.

Continuous deployment should be the goal of most companies that are not constrained by regulatory or other requirements.

In short, CI is a set of practices performed as developers are writing code, and CD is a set of practices performed after the code is completed.

How does CI/CD relate to DevOps?

DevOps is a set of practices and tools designed to increase an organization’s ability to deliver applications and services faster than traditional software development processes. The increased speed of DevOps helps an organization serve its customers more successfully and be more competitive in the market. In a DevOps environment, successful organizations “bake security in” to all phases of the development life cycle, a practice called DevSecOps.

The key practice of DevSecOps is integrating security into all DevOps workflows. By conducting security activities early and consistently throughout the software development life cycle (SDLC), organizations can ensure that they catch vulnerabilities as early as possible, and are better able to make informed decisions about risk and mitigation. In more traditional security practices, security is not addressed until the production stage, which is no longer compatible with the faster and more agile DevOps approach. Today, security tools must fit seamlessly into the developer workflow and the CI/CD pipeline in order to keep pace with DevOps and not slow development velocity. 

The CI/CD pipeline is part of the broader DevOps/DevSecOps framework. In order to successfully implement and run a CI/CD pipeline, organizations need tools to prevent points of friction that slow down integration and delivery. Teams require an integrated toolchain of technologies to facilitate collaborative and unimpeded development efforts.

What are the benefits of CI/CD?

  • Automated testing enables continuous delivery, which ensures software quality and security and increases the profitability of code in production.
  • CI/CD pipelines enable a much shorter time to market for new product features, creating happier customers and lowering strain on development.
  • The great increase in overall speed of delivery enabled by CI/CD pipelines improves an organization’s competitive edge.
  • Automation frees team members to focus on what they do best, yielding the best end products.
  • Organizations with a successful CI/CD pipeline can attract great talent. By moving away from traditional waterfall methods, engineers and developers are no longer bogged down with repetitive activities that are often highly dependent on the completion of other tasks. 

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