Continuous integration is part of the so called “CI/CD pipeline” the process that introduces ongoing automation throughout the software application lifecycle, and the backbone of DevOps practices. Used at Codespring before the clarification of DevOps principles, CI – Continuous Integration means that new code changes of a software application are regularly built, regularly tested, and then merged to existing features. Continuous Integration solves the complex problem of multiple branches of an app being developed in different team, in the same time.
Continuous integration (CI) enables multiple developers to contribute and collaborate at an ever increasing pace. It is mostly suitable for software development teams required to achieve high velocity.
How does Continuous Integration work?
Continuous integration covers the build and unit testing stages of the software release process. Developer frequently commit revisions to a central repository thus, triggering an automated build and test.
Source Control
Commit changes
Automated Build
Run Build & Unit Tests.
Automated Testing
Runs specific Tests.
Staging
Deploy and test environment
Production
Automatically deploy to production environment
The Key Benefits of Continuous Integration With Codespring
During our modern application development projects at Codespring, using DevOps methods, we have counted a few major benefits of CI – Continuous Integration.
Higher Development Productivity
Continuous integration eliminates specific manual tasks from the development time and decreases the volume of errors and bugs witnessed by the customers. Overall, the software development become more focused and productive.
Higher App Quality
Due to the frequency and diversity of testing, the team is capable of observing and understanding bugs earlier in the process, minimizing potential ulterior issues.
Faster Updates Delivery
Continuous integration is the key factor to improve the time to deliver software updates to the customer’s environment. This translates into a shorter time to market, thus a greater business growth.
Continuous Integration Tools
In order to choose what CI tools will be suitable for your team, you will have to consider a set of important factors: the support for your version control system (VCS), the type of installation – on-premises or cloud, containerization, plugins and 3rd party integrations. Some of the most popular CI – Continuous Integration tools are:
Bitbucket Pipelines:
- Easy setup and configuration
- Unified Bitbucket experience
- Atlassian Cloud
Jenkins:
- Open source
- On-premise installation
- Robust addon / plugin ecosystem
AWS CodePipeline:
- Integrated with AWS
- Fully cloud
- Custom & prebuilt plugin support
- Safe access control
Circle CI:
- Optimized for quick builds
- Easy debugging through SSH and local builds
- Analytics for build performance
Azure DevOps:
- Azure platform integration
- Windows platform support
- Native container support
- Github integration
- Deployments to Kubernetes, serverless, or VMs
GitLab:
- On-premises or cloud hosting
- Continuous security testing
- modern UX
Atlassian Bamboo:
- Integration with Atlassian suite
- Container support with Docker agents
- Trigger API for IFTTT functionality
- Multiple add-ons and plugins
