Continuous Delivery
See also Continuous integration
What is Continuous Delivery?
Continuous Delivery is a software development practice that enables teams to release software updates to production quickly and with high confidence. It builds upon Continuous Integration (CI) and aims to ensure that the software can be reliably released at any time.In Continuous Delivery, every change made to the codebase is automatically tested and verified through a robust automated testing process. This helps catch bugs early and ensures that new features integrate smoothly with existing code. The primary goal is to make the deployment process predictable and efficient, allowing for frequent releases to users.
The key components of Continuous Delivery include:
- Automated Testing: Comprehensive automated tests are created to verify the functionality of the application. This may include unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests.
- Deployment Pipeline: A series of automated steps that the code goes through from initial commit to deployment. This pipeline often includes building the application, running tests, and preparing it for deployment.
- Rapid Feedback: Continuous feedback is provided to developers and stakeholders about the status of the code changes, which fosters a culture of collaboration and quick responses to issues.
- Version Control: All code is held in a version control system, allowing teams to track changes and collaborate effectively.
- Release Readiness: The software is kept in a state that is always ready to be deployed to production, meaning it passes all the necessary tests and meets quality standards.
By adopting Continuous Delivery, organizations can benefit from shorter lead times, reduced risk in deploying updates, and improved overall software quality. Continuous Delivery also aligns well with Agile and DevOps methodologies, promoting a culture of continuous improvement and delivery.
- Snippet from Wikipedia: Continuous delivery
Continuous delivery (CD) is a software engineering approach in which teams produce software in short cycles, ensuring that the software can be reliably released at any time. It aims at building, testing, and releasing software with greater speed and frequency. The approach helps reduce the cost, time, and risk of delivering changes by allowing for more incremental updates to applications in production. A straightforward and repeatable deployment process is important for continuous delivery.
Continuous Delivery vs. ALM
Continuous Delivery vs. ALM Continuous Delivery and Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) are both essential concepts in modern software development, but they serve different purposes and focus on distinct aspects of the development process.
Continuous Delivery (CD) is a software development practice that enables teams to deliver code changes to production quickly and safely. The key characteristics of Continuous Delivery include:
- Automation: Builds, testing, and deployment processes are automated to ensure consistent quality and faster release cycles.
- Frequent Releases: Software is released in small, incremental updates rather than large, infrequent releases. This allows for faster feedback and easier troubleshooting.
- Quality Assurance: Continuous integration (CI) practices are employed to run automated tests and ensure that new code does not break existing functionality.
- DevOps Culture: CD fosters collaboration between development and operations teams, promoting a culture of shared responsibility for the delivery of software.
On the other hand, Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) refers to the process of managing the entire lifecycle of an application from initial concept through development, testing, deployment, and maintenance. Key components of ALM include:
- Planning: Involves requirements gathering, project planning, and defining the scope of the application.
- Development: Activities related to coding, including version control, coding standards, and collaboration tools.
- Testing: Encompasses quality assurance processes, including functional testing, performance testing, and user acceptance testing.
- Deployment: Involves the release of the software into production and monitoring its performance.
- Maintenance: Ongoing support and enhancements to the application post-deployment.
Continuous Delivery focuses specifically on the practices and principles that enable rapid, reliable software delivery, while ALM covers the broader spectrum of managing an application throughout its entire lifecycle. Continuous Delivery can be seen as a part of the ALM process, particularly in the development and deployment phases, but ALM encompasses a much wider range of activities and considerations.
Continuous Delivery vs. DevOps
Continuous Delivery vs. DevOps Continuous Delivery vs. DevOps
Continuous Delivery (CD) is a software development practice that aims to automate and improve the process of delivering software to production. The primary goal of CD is to ensure that code changes can be released to users quickly, safely, and reliably, with minimal manual intervention. Key components of Continuous Delivery include:
- Automated testing: Ensures that code changes do not introduce new bugs.
- Automated deployment: Streamlines the process of deploying applications to production environments.
- Continuous integration: Merges code changes frequently to detect issues early in the development cycle.
DevOps, on the other hand, is a cultural and professional movement that aims to improve collaboration and communication between software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops). DevOps seeks to shorten the software development lifecycle and deliver high-quality software continuously. Key aspects of DevOps include:
- Collaboration: Dev and Ops teams work together throughout the development process.
- Automation: Implementing tools and processes to automate manual tasks.
- Monitoring: Continuously monitoring applications in production to ensure stability and performance.
Continuous Delivery is a specific software development practice focused on releasing code, while DevOps is a broader cultural movement that encompasses practices, tools, and philosophies aimed at improving collaboration and efficiency in software development and operations. Both practices complement each other and contribute to faster and more reliable software delivery.
Continuous Delivery Pipeline
The Continuous Delivery Pipeline (also referred to as ‘pipeline’) represents the workflows, activities, and automation needed to provide a continuous release of value to the end user. The pipeline consists of four elements: Continuous Exploration (CE), Continuous Integration (CI), Continuous Deployment (CD), and Release on Demand.
- Lean Startup Cycle
todo: 
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- Capistrano
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