Continuous Integration & Continuous Deployment

how does it streamline the software making process?

Let's explore CI/CD, short for Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment or Delivery. These are important ideas in making software today.

First up, Continuous Integration, or CI. Think of it like this: when people who write software, or developers, make changes, they add these changes to a main place frequently, maybe many times in a day. Each time they add their changes, a process automatically checks to see if everything works well together. This helps find problems early and fix them fast. The big plus? It makes putting all the parts of the software together easier, finds mistakes quickly, and makes the whole process of making software faster. For example, Instagram wants to test out a new feature called reels and it needs to make sure any additional code added to Instagram does not break any existing Instagram functionality. This regular integration testing is done automatically using the concept of Continuous Integration.

Now, onto Continuous Deployment and Continuous Delivery, both part of CD. Continuous Deployment means after the software passes all the checks, it's automatically sent out to be used, without anyone having to do anything extra. It's like having a robot that makes sure the software is always ready to go. Continuous Delivery is a bit different. The software is still ready to go out at any time, but someone has to say 'okay' before it's actually sent out. This way, people have more control over when the software is released.

In both types of CD, a lot of the process is automated. This means new features and fixes get to users quickly, the quality is usually better because of all the checks, and there's less chance for mistakes. Plus, it lets the software makers focus on making even cooler stuff. Think of it like having your favorite restaurant making your dinner and packaging it for you every day regardless of you buying it or not. In this case, the restaurant wants to ensure that the greatest meal for you is always ready to go without any wait or issue if you decide to show up.

So, CI/CD is a big deal in making software. It's all about keeping things moving quickly, making sure the software is good, and making everything automatic from start to finish. Jenkins, Github Actions, TravisCI are industry standard examples of what companies use today to implement CI/CD in their software development processes.

Please like and subscribe for more content like this and comment down below if you have insights to share.