Best DevOps practices for implementing CI/CD pipeline
Tags: cloud, devops
Published: 2023-04-10 16:01:24


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## 1. Diving into the terms: what CI and CD actually mean

The connection between continuous integration, continuous delivery, and continuous deployment can be perplexing, particularly when they are incorporated into the cycle known as CI/CD. All these are iterative techniques that are used to maintain development and release. But let’s comprehend the distinctions between each of these methods.

Continuous integration (CI) emphasizes the early phases of a software development pipeline, where the code is built and goes through initial testing. Numerous developers collaborate on the same codebase at the same time and make regular commits to the code repository. Build frequency can be once a day or even several times a day at certain points in the project’s lifecycle. These frequent, small builds enable simple and low-risk experimentation, as well as the capacity to effortlessly revert or discard undesirable results.

CI relies on a range of tools and automation strategies to generate builds and guide them through preliminary testing. This testing includes unit testing as well as more extensive integration testing. One of the defining features of CI is its quick and detailed feedback. Each iteration is limited in scope, that is why bugs can be easily identified, located, reported, and fixed.

In the end, CI comes to a close when a build successfully passes its initial testing and is deemed ready for more extensive testing. This may involve tasks such as packaging the build into a deployable image (container or virtual machine image) before making it accessible to testers.

Continuous delivery (CD) takes over from where CI finishes. It concentrates on the later pipeline’s stages, where a build is completely tested, authenticated, and delivered for deployment. While CD has the ability to deploy a build after it has been tested and authenticated, it is not necessary to do so. 

CD depends significantly on automation and tools to guide a build through progressive testing, which includes functional, configuration, user acceptance, and load testing. These types of tests ensure that the build complies with the necessary standards and fits a production environment. 

The point is that the use of small incremental iterations guarantees that any issue during testing is quickly identified and fixed in a more cost-effective manner compared to traditional software development methods.

Continuous deployment (CD too), like continuous delivery, follows the same fundamental steps. The primary contrast between deployment and delivery is that continuous deployment automatically deploys every authenticated build to production. In contrast, continuous delivery usually only prepares the validated build for manual deployment or other forms of human approval.

Continuous deployment takes the iterative software development process to another level by eliminating the delay between the validation of a build and its deployment. However, this approach can pose a risk of undetected flaws or vulnerabilities slipping through testing and making their way into production. Therefore, many organizations view automated deployment as presenting too many potential risks to enterprise security and compliance. Instead, these teams prefer the continuous delivery model, where humans review a validated build before it is released.

The common thread that runs through these three continuous paradigms is a strong dependence on automation and testing to drive the process. In an ideal scenario, a developer should only need to “push a button” to move a new build from the code repository through testing and onto delivery or deployment. However, this proposition depends on the quality of the testing, the reliability of the automation behind it, and the diligent attention of testers and software developers.

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## 2. Advantages and disadvantages of CI/CD pipeline implementation

In a CI/CD pipeline, all processes are intended to occur at the same time, with software iterations being coded, tested, and deployed simultaneously. However, implementing a CI/CD pipeline involves important tradeoffs between advantages and disadvantages.

**The benefits of a CI/CD pipeline consist of the following:**

**Efficient software development**
By breaking down the software development process into smaller iterations or steps, testing becomes easier and more efficient. The limited scope of code in each new iteration makes it simpler to detect and rectify bugs. Features can be assessed for usefulness and user acceptance, and less valuable features can be quickly modified or even abandoned before further resources are expended.
**Competitive software products**
Traditional software development methods can take several months or years, and formalized specifications and requirements are not flexible enough to adapt to changing user needs and expectations. In contrast, CI/CD development readily accommodates new and evolving requirements, allowing developers to implement changes in subsequent iterations. Products developed with CI/CD can reach the market more quickly and with greater success.
**No fear of failure**
The rapid cyclicality of CI/CD allows developers to experiment with innovative coding styles and algorithms with less risk than traditional software development approaches, providing them with the freedom to fail without significant consequences. If an experiment is unsuccessful, it is unlikely to be released into production and can be undone in the following iteration. This potential for competitive innovation is a compelling reason for organizations to adopt CI/CD.
Better support & maintenance
Additionally, the constant flow of a CI/CD pipeline makes it easier to address and fix bugs more quickly and with greater confidence, resulting in better software maintenance. In traditional software development, bugs may take weeks or months to fix, whereas CI/CD’s regular testing and validation stages ensure that issues are addressed promptly, resulting in a more stable and dependable product over time.
Improved operations support
Furthermore, regular software releases keep operations personnel up to date with the software’s requirements and monitoring needs, resulting in better operations support. Administrators are better equipped to deploy software updates and handle rollbacks with fewer deployment errors and less unnecessary troubleshooting. Additionally, IT automation technologies can help speed up deployments while reducing setup or configuration errors.
While there are many benefits to using CI/CD pipelines, there are also several potential problems that need to be considered. Here are a few of the most common ones:

The success of a CI/CD pipeline relies heavily on automation and consistent tooling. This means that organizations need to invest a significant amount of time and resources into building and managing their automation tools, which can be challenging and require specialized skills.
CI/CD also requires a high degree of staff discipline and careful planning to be effective. Developers need to follow established guidelines and work closely with project managers to ensure that new builds are being continuously generated, tested, and deployed. However, some stakeholders may be uncomfortable with automated deployments, which can lead to delays and other problems.
Finally, communication and collaboration are critical components of any successful CI/CD process. While automation can help speed up the development cycle, it’s important that developers and stakeholders work closely together to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that potential issues are addressed quickly and effectively.

## 3. CI/CD pipeline’s stages

Basically, CI/CD pipeline consists  of four main stages: source, build, testing, and deployment. Let’s figure out what should be done on each of them.

**Stage 1. Source**

On this stage, developers write code and store it in a version control system, such as Git. This stage also implies using integrated development environments (IDEs) that are compliant to a language and code-cheking features used. 

**Stage 2. Build**

On this stage, you can get the source code from the repository, compile it, and link it with libraries. The code is built into executable packages, such as binaries or Docker containers, which can be deployed to various environments.

**Stage 3. Testing**

Automated tests are run on the code to ensure that it meets the necessary quality standards. These tests can include unit tests, integration tests, and acceptance tests. After the build stage, you can use dynamic application security testing (DAST), interactive application security testing (IAST), regression testing,  performance testing, etc.

**Stage 4. Deployment**

The packages are deployed to various environments, such as development, staging, and production. First, a build is deployed on a test server. It can also be called pre-production deployment. Then, the packages are automatically deployed to production environments once they pass all necessary quality checks.


## 4. What is a good CI/CD pipeline: A relevant example

There is no a single answer on what the bst CI/CD pipeline is. Every pipeline can rely on various tools and use different pathways for projects with diverse scopes. However, in most cases a good CI/CD pipeline typically involves the following steps:

Code development and version control. Developers write code and store it in a version control system such as Git.

Automated testing. Automated tests are run on the code to ensure that it meets the necessary quality standards. These tests can include unit tests, integration tests, and acceptance tests.

Continuous integration. The code is automatically merged into the main codebase on a regular basis, typically multiple times per day.

Build and packaging. The code is built into executable packages, such as binaries or Docker containers, which can be deployed to various environments.

Deployment. The packages are deployed to various environments, such as development, staging, and production.

Continuous delivery. The packages are automatically deployed to production environments once they pass all necessary quality checks.

Monitoring and feedback. The production environment is monitored to ensure that the application is running smoothly. Any issues are reported back to the development team for resolution.

A relevant example of a good CI/CD pipeline can be seen in the way that Netflix releases its software. Netflix has a highly automated and continuous deployment process, which allows them to release new features and bug fixes to their streaming service quickly and efficiently. Their pipeline includes:

Code development and version control using Git.
Automated testing using a variety of tools, including Spinnaker and Chaos Monkey, to simulate real-world conditions and ensure that the system is resilient to failures.

Continuous integration using Jenkins to automatically build and test code on every commit.
Build and packaging using a combination of Gradle and Spinnaker to package code into Docker containers.
Deployment using Spinnaker to deploy containers to various environments, such as development, staging, and production.
Continuous delivery using a combination of automated and manual approval gates to ensure that code is only deployed to production if it meets certain quality criteria.
Monitoring and feedback using a variety of tools, including Atlas and Spectator, to monitor the system in real-time and provide feedback to the development team.

By having a well-designed and automated CI/CD pipeline, Netflix is able to quickly release new features and bug fixes to their customers, while also ensuring that the service remains stable and reliable.

## 5. How to implement CI/CD pipeline with practical steps

As we emphasized above, there is no single way of implementing the st CI/CD pipeline in the world. Everything depends on business needs, tools used, development practices your engineers used to, and services your cloud provider’s platform has. However, if you follow these steps, you will implement a solid CI/CD pipeline that for sure will take your business to the next level. 

**Here are a bunch of these steps:**

**Automate everything.** The key to an effective CI/CD pipeline is automation. Automate the building, testing, and deployment processes as much as possible.
**Use version control.** Make sure that all code is stored in a version control system such as Git. This helps ensure that changes are tracked and can be easily rolled back if necessary.
**Keep the pipeline simple.** A simple pipeline is easier to manage and maintain. Keep the number of stages to a minimum and ensure that each stage has a clear purpose.
**Test at every stage.** Ensure that tests are run at every stage of the pipeline, from building to deployment. This helps catch errors early in the process and ensures that code is of a high quality.
**Use containers.** Use containers such as Docker to ensure that the environment is consistent across all stages of the pipeline. This helps ensure that code runs the same way in development, testing, and production environments.
**Monitor the pipeline.** Monitor the pipeline to ensure that it is running smoothly and that any issues are caught and addressed quickly.
**Make security a priority.** Security should be a top priority in any CI/CD pipeline. Ensure that code is scanned for vulnerabilities and that access to the pipeline is restricted.
**Document the pipeline.** As a crucial part of a pipeline, documentation fixes and explains the process for both software engineers and business. Documentation also contributes to troubleshooting, compliance regulations, security, and audit activities.  

To sum up, if implemented the right way, CI/CD pipeline is designed to automate the software delivery process and reduce the time and effort required to release software updates. By automating the pipeline, teams can deliver software more quickly and with greater confidence. Besides, they also improve the quality of their code through continuous testing and feedback.