Continuous integration (CI) is a DevOps-based software development process in which developers regularly integrate the code into a shared repository, after which automated builds and tests are run. The term regularly or ‘frequently’ is open to interpretation, but is often taken to mean “many times every day”. It is part of the build or integration stage of the Software Development Life Cycle(SDLC). The main goal of the CI process is to find defects or issues earlier in the SDLC process. This process uses several automation tools that make sure the correct code is integrated after it goes through a series of automated tests. It is also described as a set of software engineering practices that speed up the delivery of software by decreasing integration times.
When developers commit smaller changes regularly, it helps to reduce the number of conflicts. Developers should not wait for a week or an Agile sprint to end for them to commit the code. If we decide to commit a week’s worth of work at once, it creates conflicts within the feature that we are working on. So it’s best to use a component of CI like git to commit the code at regular intervals.
CI follows a certain set of principles such as revision control, automated testing, and a build process that helps to get rid of bugs. Using CI, developers integrate small codebases regularly. By doing this, it is easier to pinpoint the exact change that caused the error. CI helps to bring transparency among all the team to see who committed to the code.
Once code is merged using CI, it triggers an automated code build and automated test, which runs for 10 to 15 minutes. If the CI stage is successful, the code pipeline moves to the next step. If there is any failure in the build, the CI system blocks it from progressing further. This CI process triggers an email with the build report to the developers or email distribution that was used. Developers will study the reports to find out the issue and take immediate action to get the build pipeline back into a “green” state.
When developers work in small iterations, the process of software development becomes reliable and predictable. It helps developers to build the product in different versions. This further helps product management to bring the right product to market in a short time.
Advantages of Continuous Integration Tools
There are many advantages to using CI tools.
- Integration becomes smoother and less time-consuming
- Issues are caught early on during the build process
- Less time is spent on debugging and more time is spent on adding features.
- Problems that occur in integration are reduced
- Delivery time of the software is reduced greatly
Continuous Integration Components
Below are the minimum basic components needed to set up continuous integration.
- Source Code Repository: This setup is needed to commit the code and maintain version control. Popular tools are Git, Atlassian stash
- Build Server: This is the continuous integration build server that builds the software automatically. Popular tools are Jenkins and Travis CI.
- Build Tool: This is the build tool used to compile the software. This tool is different based on the programming language and framework. Popular choices are Maven, Gradle, ant, and SBT.
- Deployment environment: This is the server on which the actual application will be deployed. Example: Developers deploy their code in a development environment, test their code, and promote the same code to UAT (User Acceptance Testing) and the production environment.
Tools for Continuous Integration
Various tools can be used in continuous integration(CI) to automate the build, test, and deployment process. Some of the popular CI tools are given below.
- Jenkins
- Travis CI
- Bamboo
- GitLab CI
- CircleCI
- Codeship
- TeamCity
Conclusion
In this blog post, we read about Continuous Integration, which is one of the important DevOps tools. We also read about the advantages of the CI tool along with its components.
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