Continuous Integration vs. Continuous Delivery vs. Continuous Deployment

The most commonly used two acronyms of modern DevOps practice are CI and CD. CI stands for Continuous Integration. CD stands for both Continuous Delivery and Continuous Deployment. Developers use CI to ensure frequent merge of code into the central repository. CD ensures frequent delivery and Deployment.

Did you know about the differences between CI, CD, and CD? Let’s start with a brief introduction about them.

Continuous Integration

Developers need to merge the code into the central repository even if they made a slight change. Frequent analysis helps to auto code merging into the repository. It runs autotests against the build. Test automation reduces the waiting time needed for releasing the changes.

Here are the significant benefits of CI:

· Autotest reduces bugs.

· Early solving of issues smooths the way of integration.

· On-time alert reduces context switching time.

· Test automation is both time and cost-effective.

Continuous Delivery

Continuous delivery is the next stage of continuous integration. The core task of frequent delivery is to deploy the code changes into the production-like environment. So it provides the opportunity of auto releasing with the auto testing process. Developers can release daily, weekly, or monthly based on their customers’ demand. Here, members focus on small-batch releases to solve issues.

Here are some top benefits of CD:

· The process of deploying software has become easier than the traditional system.

· The frequent release enhances customer satisfaction and accelerates the feedback loop.

· As members can find issues early, it encourages them to work better and faster.

Continuous Deployment

Continuous Deployment follows the zero-human touch policy. The changes are deployed to production only when a test fails. As there is no release date in the process, developers can focus more on building and releasing software.

The top benefits of CD are:

· Removes the need to pause development.

· Auto trigger of deployment pipelines.

· The easy bug fixing process

· less risky process.

· Continuous improvement of quality.

Are These Practices Related to Each Other?

CI, CD, and CD are related to each other. CI is a part of continuous delivery and Deployment. Continuous Deployment and delivery are almost the same, but Deployment focuses on auto release. While making new software or applications, businesses can achieve continuous Deployment as they get enough time to test, deploy, and auto release. But for existing software, it is preferable to focus on frequent integration and delivery. First, developers need to implement a basic unit test. At the same time, they have to build an auto-deployment and release system as early as possible. After some frequent release, they can adopt continuous Deployment.

Though frequent integration, delivery, and Deployment are different, they are interrelated and interdependent. Do you want to enjoy the maximum benefits? Combine and use them in your DevOps practices.