What is CI/CD?
Nowadays, every programmer probably interprets the term CI/CD a little differently. For some, it is a culture to which one must adapt when building software, while for others it is a set of tools that automates operations on the code produced. For a person who is first exposed to the concept, an example will be the most illustrative; Marek added a new functionality in the code, and updated the project repository when he was done. Automata took over this code from him and ran a series of unit tests, making sure that the change would not mess up the existing features of the system. When all the tests were successful, another automaton created a temporary environment for the application with fictitious user data and tested whether the application worked properly under load (this process is usually called integration testing, because it combines multiple components of the service and tests them as a whole). Only when these tests were successful could the Team Leader update the main server located at the customer’s site, authorizing himself using his account.
So, Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) are a set of schemas, rules, guidelines and best practices for working in software projects. It allows the development team to deliver confident and tested code changes more efficiently and frequently. It’s one of the basic ways of working on software that minimizes the need for programmers to carry out repetitive processes and prevents them from doing something in an erroneous, non-compliant way.
Advantages from implementing CI/CD
The implementation of CI/CD will support the solution of a number of project problems in:
- differences in developer environments – CI/CD sets a single standard of work, so that the classic “weird, it works for me” will no longer be an issue;
- supports automation – during software development there are numerous activities that are fully repeatable; CI/CD software automates such activities, speeding up development time;
- supports software testing – replacing manual test runs with automated testing when a certain condition is met;
- reducing the time to implement changes in production – CI/CD significantly shortens this process, streamlining implementation loops.
How does the implementation process work?
Here are some of the principles we follow when implementing CI/CD tools:
- We take into account how many developers the team has, what methodologies they use, and where the code is ultimately deployed (git flow);
- We draw a detailed diagram of the change delivery path, trying to anticipate scenarios such as the need to roll back to a previous version or the need to add an additional environment to test more complex functionality;
- We select the technology together with the client, and then specify all the findings in a model document that forms the basis for starting the implementation;
- We implement the solution (Code Pipelines), and continue to monitor for a few more weeks whether each team member is fully comfortable with the new tools;
- We provide reliability-oriented monitoring of our solution, as well as the efficiency of the team’s daily work. We are able to generate relevant reports;
Check out what you can gain
We support the development of CI/CD techniques in technology companies. We use them ourselves in our company’s internal structures on a daily basis, so we have proven implementation processes that we can easily implement in other projects. If you’re running IT projects and you’re looking to increase efficiency, take advantage of our support and implement CI/CD practices in your company.
Summary
Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery are setting new standards for software development in the IT market. Companies that implement these approaches in their projects gain tangible benefits and gain an advantage in the competitive market. It is therefore worth taking an interest in this topic now and implementing it in your structures.
