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CI/CD Pipelines

CI/CD Pipelines

A CI/CD pipeline is an essential part of the modern software development process. It comprises several automated steps designed to facilitate and accelerate the provision of new software versions.

A CI/CD pipeline is an essential part of the modern software development process. It comprises several automated steps designed to facilitate and accelerate the provision of new software versions.

Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment pipelines are designed to optimize the software deployment process across the entire lifecycle, from development and testing to production and monitoring.

By automating the CI/CD pipeline, organizations can not only reduce development time, but also improve the quality of their code. Automation enables developers to develop and deliver high-quality software quickly and securely, which ultimately strengthens the company’s competitiveness and innovative power.

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With accompio to an effective CI/CD pipeline

  • Easier provision of new software versions

  • Optimization of the software delivery process over the entire life cycle

  • Improve code quality, accelerate software development

  • Minimize human error and create a consistent process for software release

We automate the software development process

CI/CD pipeline at a glance

A CI/CD pipeline is an automated process that drives software development from code creation to testing and deployment. CI stands for Continuous Integration, while CD stands for Continuous Deployment or Continuous Delivery. The main goal of this pipeline is to minimize human error and ensure a consistent process for the release of software. Various tools are used in the pipeline, including code compilation, unit testing, code analysis, security checks and binary creation. In containerized environments, the pipeline also includes packaging the code into container images for deployment in a hybrid cloud.

The CI/CD pipeline forms the backbone of a DevOps methodology that brings together development and IT operations teams to improve software delivery. With the increasing importance of customized applications, the speed at which code can be released has become a critical competitive factor.

The CI/CD pipeline process

The CI/CD pipeline is a dynamic process that is individually designed by DevOps teams. There are no rigid rules or ready-made implementations, instead each team chooses the tools and services that best suit their needs. Nevertheless, a typical CI/CD pipeline includes several key phases that cover the entire software development process.

Throughout the process, development teams receive alerts on bugs so that issues can be fixed immediately, and only bug-free code is ultimately deployed to production.

Coding phase

In the coding phase, developers check out the code from a central repository and work on it locally. After they have carried out tests in their development environment, the code is transferred back to the repository.

Build phase

The build phase is triggered when new code is submitted. This is where the code from the various branches is collected and compiled to create executable versions.

Test phase

The build then undergoes various tests, including component tests and user acceptance tests, to ensure that it meets the requirements.

Release phase

If the tested release is error-free, it is transferred to the next phase, the deployment phase. Various strategies are available here, such as rolling distribution, blue-green distribution and canary deployment, to get the application into production safely and efficiently.

CI/CD pipeline & DevOps

DevOps is a response to the challenges that have arisen from the Agile development movement. While Agile developers were able to quickly deploy new apps and code updates, traditional operations teams struggled to keep up. DevOps extends the principles of agile to the entire software development lifecycle, allowing for continuous workflow optimization. High-performing DevOps teams benefit from faster code iterations, shorter time-to-market, fewer bugs and a more stable infrastructure.

The CI/CD pipeline is a central component of the DevOps approach. Developers regularly integrate new code into the central repository, and an automated build process tests and validates the changes. This allows problems to be identified quickly and developers receive immediate feedback on how to rectify errors.

Established tools for CI/CD pipeline

Over the years, a number of “standard solutions” have been established for the execution of CI/CD pipelines:

  • Jenkins
  • TeamCity
  • Bamboo
  • GitLab
  • Azure

The choice of a suitable tool depends on the project, the environment and the existing know-how. While some tools such as Jenkins script the pipeline with Groovy, others offer graphical user interfaces or YAML definitions. From our many years of experience, we know that there is no one-size-fits-all answer. However, each of these tools is excellent for running CI/CD pipelines and provides interfaces for the systems involved, from code management to deployment.

Why the CI/CD pipeline is important for companies

The implementation of CI/CD practices offers numerous advantages:

  • Faster and more robust releases: CI/CD speeds up software distribution and optimizes the process more efficiently. By automating tests and bug fixes, developers can spend more time writing code and improving application quality.

  • Earlier error detection: Automated testing at every stage of the CI/CD pipeline allows developers to identify errors and problems as soon as they occur. This makes it possible to avoid potentially serious errors during distribution.

  • Greater transparency: A CI/CD pipeline enables development teams to analyze builds, test results and coding errors in detail. This allows them to better understand which changes have led to problems and avoid them in the future.

  • Faster feedback loops: CI/CD establishes a constant feedback loop that developers can use to experiment with features and improve the app experience.

  • Lower costs: CI/CD’s automated approach reduces the number of errors at each stage of the development process and simplifies troubleshooting. Developers spend less time on manual tasks and can focus on improving code quality instead.

  • Higher customer satisfaction: More reliable releases and faster updates, bug fixes and new features lead to higher customer satisfaction and strengthen your company’s position against the competition.

  • Faster and more robust releases: CI/CD speeds up software distribution and optimizes the process more efficiently. By automating tests and bug fixes, developers can spend more time writing code and improving application quality.

  • Earlier error detection: Automated testing at every stage of the CI/CD pipeline allows developers to identify errors and problems as soon as they occur. This makes it possible to avoid potentially serious errors during distribution.

  • Greater transparency: A CI/CD pipeline enables development teams to analyze builds, test results and coding errors in detail. This allows them to better understand which changes have led to problems and avoid them in the future.

  • Faster feedback loops: CI/CD establishes a constant feedback loop that developers can use to experiment with features and improve the app experience.

  • Lower costs: CI/CD’s automated approach reduces the number of errors at each stage of the development process and simplifies troubleshooting. Developers spend less time on manual tasks and can focus on improving code quality instead.

  • Higher customer satisfaction: More reliable releases and faster updates, bug fixes and new features lead to higher customer satisfaction and strengthen your company’s position against the competition.

In addition to these automated tests, manual tests are also essential, especially for user acceptance tests and the final acceptance of the software.

accompio as your reliable partner for CI/CD pipelines

accompio is your experienced partner for optimizing and reliably designing your CI/CD pipelines. Our team of experts will support you in selecting and implementing the right tools and services for your CI/CD pipelines. We will help you configure an efficient pipeline that includes automated testing, continuous integration and deployment. Through our years of experience and expertise, we can help you improve the speed and quality of your software delivery.

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FAQs about CI/CD Pipeline

CI/CD, short for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Deployment, aims to optimize and accelerate the software development lifecycle. Continuous Integration (CI) refers to the automatic and regular integration of code changes into a shared source code repository.

Continuous Delivery is the process by which code changes are automatically published to the production environment after they have been validated by Continuous Integration (CI). Continuous Deployment, although often used as a synonym, is a separate process in which the release takes place without manual intervention.

CI stands for Continuous Integration and refers to the continuous process of combining components into an application. Automated tests are also carried out to ensure the reliability of the code changes.

CI projects refer to the automation of development processes that allow code changes to be merged more frequently. This helps to reduce the amount of work and time required to merge source code branches.

A continuous delivery pipeline comprises continuous integration, delivery and deployment and is part of a tool chain that includes automated testing and version management. The CI/CD pipeline aims to bring code changes into production quickly and efficiently.