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Best CI/CD Tools | What Are Continuous Integration And Continuous Delivery?

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With the rising popularity of DevOps, practices of Continuous Delivery and Integration are becoming mainstream.

What is Continuous Integration?

Continuous Integration is an approach where software development, testing and operation teams can update and view code on the shared server.

This code can be open to the final user or protected from visibility.

Advantages

1. Improvement in collaboration and quality

Implementing continuous integration, developers do frequent code commits which makes it easier to identify defects and quality related issues.

2. Improvements to code quality

By including the automated testing phase in the CI process, the quality of the code is constantly monitored and reviewed on every commit.

3. Development team becomes more efficient

The integration process is broken down into small daily development tasks to help reduce the build costs and detect and resolve issues early in the software lifecycle.

What is Continuous Delivery?

In simple words, it’s a delivery approach where the software is quickly tested and deployed after a new iteration was created.

Benefits of Continuous Delivery

1. Frequent Deployments

CD delivers changes to the infrastructure either staging or production and executes the additional tests.

So, developers need not deliver any extra time on knowing the system details for application delivery, they can easily focus on their main tasks, IE, developing new features.

2. Faster software builds

It helps in providing real-time feedback from the user and fixes any bugs or issues at the beginning without wasting time at the later stages.

3. Better time to market

Faster release and quick deployments help in getting the app to the market in time with reduced time to market, enterprises can be confident that their software will release well before market changes, their competitors or users’ ever-rising demands.

To implement continuous integration and delivery, software development teams use specialized tools.

Advantages of using CI/CD tools

  • Automation. You can automate repetitive work in development, testing, deployment, maintenance.
  • Collaboration. Specialized platforms create an intuitive environment for expert cooperation.
  • Transparent management. CI/CD tools allow team members and managers to keep track of CI/CD processes, create tasks and work with a backlog.

Continuous Deployment tools

We prepared a Continuous Deployment tools list so you’ll be able to choose the one that fits your needs.

1. Buddy

Buddy’s specialty is direct code deployment from popular repositories like Github, Gitlab and Bitbucket. Buddy will notify you on the updates of your repository code deployment with regular reports and emergency notifications.

Features

  • Applying docker images for test environment
  • Caching errors, bugs, detecting real-time changes
  • Project planning
  • Preset templates for team workflow collaboration and communication.

2. Jenkins

Jenkins is a free platform for CI automation.

Features

  • Cross-platform support
  • User creative plug-in library
  • Multi build support
  • Scheduling the project’s integration
  • Real-time notifications about build progress.

3. Circles CI

Buddy’s specialty is direct code deployment from popular repositories like Github, Gitlab and Bitbucket. Buddy will notify you on the updates of your repository code deployment with regular reports and emergency Circle CI is among the most popular platforms for continuous integration and docker based development. It’s applied at all development stages.

Features

  • Automated debugging configuration
  • Mail notifications and smart insights on improving the CI/CD process
  • Support of the unlimited number of versions.

4. Azure DevOps

Azure for DevOps is a complex set of tools that combines the functionality of 10 plus tools, allowing to automate, manage, control, test and support software.

Features

  • Project management: Azure boards are used to plan, manage and track the project’s progress.
  • Github hosting: Azure Repos connects the platform to your GitHub repository in real-time.
  • Manual testing: Test Plans features allow planning, conducting, and monitoring manual tests.
  • Additional functionality: The platform features a library with 1000+ community-curated apps.

5. Bamboo

Bamboo allows developers to automate the building process while testers can optimize build and unit testing.

Features

  • Batch testing: The tool allows working dozens of parallel tests
  • More than 100 supported builds
  • Automated creation of container images
  • Self created triggers that react to changes of the repository.

6. Buildbot

Buildbot supports multiple test cycles simultaneously automated code testing and compilation and reacts to code updates.

Features

  • Integration automation: Buildbot uses algorithms for build deployment and management under user-defined conditions.
  • Support of multiple slave platforms
  • Build configuration with Python and see
  • Simultaneous development and testing.

The market is full of other CI/CD tools with similar functionality. Would you add any other tools to our list?

How to choose a CD/CI tool that fits your business?

Each solution offers a unique library of add-ons and integrations, so the choice also depends on what kinds of tools you use for your workflow.

Don’t rush narrowing the choice options down to a single one, start by picking two or three platforms and testing them out.

To make this choice, look at the following requirements:

Hosting settings

Some companies use cloud storage whereas others use local networks. If your company uses cloud computing, look for services that use cloud servers.

Budget

Complex platforms like Azure DevOps offer as much functionality as five to six open source continuous integration solutions but it’s significantly more expensive. Typically, small businesses and startups use cheaper services whereas big companies offer enterprise level applications.

Functionality

Ideally, you want a flexible solution that allows you to choose your go-to feature plan, look for platforms that have a pay per use pricing model.

Community

Ideally, you want a flexible solution that allows you to choose your go-to feature plan, look for platforms that have a pay per use pricing model.

Finally, CI/CD tools should be considered a long-term business investment.

When you pick the software for development and integration, consider not only the needs at hand but also the long-term perspective. Before starting a CD/CI integration, you need to outline the goals that a tool will help your team to achieve. Feel free to reach out to the EZtek team to handle all the necessary development for you. EZtek provides tech consulting and software development services to businesses worldwide.

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