What is CICD and how can different organizations benefit from it.
CICD stands for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery. Releasing software can take a lot of time. Weeks of manual integration, configuration, testing and more. CICD enables many organizations to release it more frequently without compromising on quality. With CICD, code changes can be driven through an automated pipeline that deals with repetitive build, test, and deployment tasks.
Amazon defines continuous integration vs continuous delivery and explains the difference between these two. “Continuous integration (CI) is a software development practice where developers regularly merge their code changes into a central repository, after which automated builds and tests are run. CI most often refers to the build or integration stage of the software release process and requires both an automation component (for example a CI or build service) and a cultural component (for example learning to integrate frequently).” (2021). The main objectives of CI are to identify and address bugs faster, improve software quality and minimize the time it takes to launch new software updates.
“Continuous delivery (CD) is a software development practice where code changes are automatically built, tested, and prepared for production release. It expands on continuous integration by deploying all code changes to a testing environment, a production environment, or both after the build stage has been completed. Continuous delivery can be fully automated with a workflow process or partially automated with manual steps at critical points.” (2021) With CD, revisions are deployed to a production environment automatically without a need for approval from a developer, making the whole software release process automated. This, in turn, allows for a continuous customer feedback loop early in the product lifecycle.
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Among the long list of CICD benefits, we have identified major ones that fast-paced, innovative organizations can benefit from.
Simplicity
Makes developers’ jobs easier through automated workflows.
CD simplifies the job for different team members by providing a method to check in code that is automatically built and tested, without re-creating the code from the scratch. CD practices are set to free developers from manually performed tasks; instead of wasting time on deploying the codes to a platform, developers can use this time to concentrate on coding logic that delivers the desired features.
Innovative
Responsive to new trends
The main goal of the CICD pipeline is to release software quickly and frequently. In today’s fast-paced, competitive market it is necessary to respond to changing tendencies promptly. An automated pipeline enables companies to ship changes weekly, daily, or even hourly. Within CICD, new features can be launched faster. And the opportunity to push changes out quickly can give each organization a competitive edge.
Collaborative
Encourages transparency and communication among different teams
CICD pipeline brings the different members from different teams altogether. It provides an opportunity for many specialists engaged in building products – from security members to marketing teams to get more clear visibility of the software release process. Which in turn stimulates a more collaborative approach. Various tools embedded within CICD allow non-developer employees to see the scope of the work, and access to the staging environment enables them to engage with what is being built.
Creativity
Less time spend on coding, means more time for creativity
As mentioned above, CICD pipelines simplify the job and eliminate waste, through the use of computers that perform repetitive tasks. This automated process creates room for more creativity since the employees can focus on problem-solving instead of following manual scripts, updating the environment, or deploying the updates.
What is CICD and how can different organizations benefit from it.
CICD stands for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery. Releasing software can take a lot of time. Weeks of manual integration, configuration, testing and more. CICD enables many organizations to release it more frequently without compromising on quality. With CICD, code changes can be driven through an automated pipeline that deals with repetitive build, test, and deployment tasks.
Amazon defines continuous integration vs continuous delivery and explains the difference between these two. “Continuous integration (CI) is a software development practice where developers regularly merge their code changes into a central repository, after which automated builds and tests are run. CI most often refers to the build or integration stage of the software release process and requires both an automation component (for example a CI or build service) and a cultural component (for example learning to integrate frequently).” (2021). The main objectives of CI are to identify and address bugs faster, improve software quality and minimize the time it takes to launch new software updates.
“Continuous delivery (CD) is a software development practice where code changes are automatically built, tested, and prepared for production release. It expands on continuous integration by deploying all code changes to a testing environment, a production environment, or both after the build stage has been completed. Continuous delivery can be fully automated with a workflow process or partially automated with manual steps at critical points.” (2021) With CD, revisions are deployed to a production environment automatically without a need for approval from a developer, making the whole software release process automated. This, in turn, allows for a continuous customer feedback loop early in the product lifecycle.
IMAGE
Among the long list of CICD benefits, we have identified major ones that fast-paced, innovative organizations can benefit from.
Simplicity
Makes developers’ jobs easier through automated workflows.
CD simplifies the job for different team members by providing a method to check in code that is automatically built and tested, without re-creating the code from the scratch. CD practices are set to free developers from manually performed tasks; instead of wasting time on deploying the codes to a platform, developers can use this time to concentrate on coding logic that delivers the desired features.
Innovative
Responsive to new trends
The main goal of the CICD pipeline is to release software quickly and frequently. In today’s fast-paced, competitive market it is necessary to respond to changing tendencies promptly. An automated pipeline enables companies to ship changes weekly, daily, or even hourly. Within CICD, new features can be launched faster. And the opportunity to push changes out quickly can give each organization a competitive edge.
Collaborative
Encourages transparency and communication among different teams
CICD pipeline brings the different members from different teams altogether. It provides an opportunity for many specialists engaged in building products – from security members to marketing teams to get more clear visibility of the software release process. Which in turn stimulates a more collaborative approach. Various tools embedded within CICD allow non-developer employees to see the scope of the work, and access to the staging environment enables them to engage with what is being built.
Creativity
Less time spend on coding, means more time for creativity
As mentioned above, CICD pipelines simplify the job and eliminate waste, through the use of computers that perform repetitive tasks. This automated process creates room for more creativity since the employees can focus on problem-solving instead of following manual scripts, updating the environment, or deploying the updates.
References:
Earthpledge Foundation. (2021). Whitepapers. Amazon. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/latest/practicing-continuous-integration-continuous-delivery/what-is-continuous-integration-and-continuous-deliverydeployment.html
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