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Now, Automation has made its way in almost every field. From mechanical assembly to testing software, Automation is everywhere! Why is automation so important? Because it is less time consuming and error-free. I.e. working on a project doesn’t require a computer on a per-hour basis, you can make it work for as many hours as you want. Just to give the command and all processes are on their track.
In SDLC, CI/CD comes to split the responsibility of integrating the updated versions and deploying them continuously and automatically. Here in this section, we’re going to understand CI/CD and its importance during implementation as well as focusing on best practices.
In-detail about CI/CD
CI/CD is abbreviated for continuous integration and continuous delivery. Both are part of software development. In CI/CD there are new changes, especially in agile methodology new changes are frequently. With every code push, a group of processes has to be triggered to check the quality and continuity of the code. This is known as continuous integration. Once we’re completing the integration of coding, it is necessary to check the errors. If the code passes the testing, the machine can deploy/deliver the code to the end-user automatically. This phase is known as Continuous deployment/ Continuous development (CD).
CI/CD Pipeline
CI/CD pipeline is a series of steps. For delivering new software versions, steps must be done in order. It introduces automation to improve the process of software development life cycle. Though, there are two ways to execute each step of the CI/CD pipeline- but you’ll realize the true value of the CI/CD pipeline through automation.
CI/CD stages
- Building Infrastructure as Code
The first stage in a CI/CD pipeline is known as the build phase. This phase is activated when the developers push their new codes. Therefore, the compiler collects all the features of the code and creates the desired section of the respective software and does testing of the software.
- Automated Testing
In this phase, the necessary tests are performed to check whether the built features are qualified enough to be pushed for the next phase. To meet the requirements, there are many testing methodologies from performance to functional tests.
- Product Deployment
This is the final stage of CI/CD. After completion of software building and testing, the product is deployed into production. With the support of CD, this stage became automated and easier. It ensures reliability while delivering products to the users.
Advantage of CI/CD
There are enormous advantages of using CI/CD in product development life cycle. But here we’re showing some key advantages :
- Faster Release Rate
In the path of successful product development, failure detection is the necessary step. This is the point where the CI/CD pipeline is ahead in comparison to the traditional SDLC environments. CI/CD assists developers in monitoring and merging their code, running through tests and deploying it for production. As a result, they can be fixed at a faster release rate.
- Improve Code Quality
One of the key technical advantages of CI/CD is to improve the code quality. It enables developers to integrate their code into a small repository in small parts. With this, a developer can share the builds with the whole team. Now, the whole team comes into the picture. So, error detection and solving processes become much easier. Thus, the CI/CD pipeline diminishes the codes with errors, quickly solves them and sends them to production.
- Time & Cost effective
Small code changes are easy to do rather than large changes. With CI/CD, these small code changes can be tested quickly once they’re integrated. This process saves time when direct communication is not possible because every member of the team works remotely. When we’re talking about the cost, CI/CD ensures that you will not lose more money due to significant damage. Such CI/CD pipeline integration saves the cost by finding bugs and errors in the early stage and quickly resolving them.
- Faster MTTR ( Mean Time To Resolution)
MTTR is nothing but a recovery time. There are repairable features available in the product development. MTTR gives the estimated time taken up by recovery from a possible failure. Again smaller code changes helps keeping failures to a minimum. CI/CD pipeline makes sure that the fix can be tested with the whole code before deploying to production.
- Easy Maintenance & Updates
Keeping your software and doing regular updates is a crucial part of software development. With CI/CD, the process to perform during the downtime period is known as ‘critical hour’. Trying to update changes during this period increases the deployment issues. With CI/CD, it doesn’t affect the entire system and create microservices in your code. So, only one portion of the system is taken down at one time.
Eventually
Now, you know the advantage of implementing CI/CD in software development life cycle. If you’re on the verge of opting CI/CD pipeline, you are on the right track. Many top organizations across the world get benefits from implementing CI/CD, and it will be worthwhile for you as well. The best way to implement CI/CD for your software development is by moving to a software development company- Blobstation.
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