11.2.1 About CI/CD

CI/CD (or CICD) is a process for the continuous integration and continuous delivery or deployment of software. Instead of developing software modules fully and then trying to integrate them and deliver a product at the end (as has been done in the past), software is continually integrated and continuously delivered or deployed in small increments, ensuring that a product can be produced with minimal issues at any point.

Continuous integration moves the integration and testing activity early into the development cycle. This helps you reduce the project risks and increasing the likelihood of a successful product.

To support the CI/CD pipeline, containers can be used to build and test code using a consistent environment that the team can share. Developing the instruction files to create and run a container (e.g., Dockerfile) and run container contents (e.g., Jenkinsfile) is non-trivial. This is where the CI/CD Wizard can help with development.