ENGINEERING
Building Early Infrastructure
Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD)
A CI/CD pipeline automates code integration, testing, and deployment, enabling faster delivery with fewer errors. This is critical for maintaining development velocity and ensuring consistent quality.
Why it's Important
Reduces manual effort and human error in deployments.
Ensures code quality through automated testing.
Accelerates feature delivery to users.
How to Implement
Choose a CI/CD tool like GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, or CircleCI.
Define a pipeline that includes code building, automated tests, and deployments.
Integrate automated testing frameworks to catch bugs early.
Establish branching strategies (e.g., GitFlow) to manage code releases.
Monitor pipeline performance and make improvements as needed.
Available Workshops
Pipeline Design Workshop: Collaborate with the team to define the CI/CD pipeline stages.
Automated Testing Exercise: Practice creating and running unit and integration tests.
Branching Strategy Training: Teach developers how to use Git workflows effectively.
Deployment Simulation: Run mock deployments to test the pipeline’s reliability.
CI/CD Monitoring Workshop: Use tools like Datadog or New Relic to track pipeline metrics.
Deliverables
Fully operational CI/CD pipeline.
Automated test suite integrated into the pipeline.
Deployment documentation and guidelines.
How to Measure
Deployment frequency and success rates.
Time taken from code commit to production release.
Reduction in bugs or issues found in production.
Real-World Examples
Automated deployments to push code changes daily.
Etsy
Built a robust CI/CD system to support frequent updates.
Shopify
Leveraged CI/CD to deploy features quickly and safely.
Get It Right
Start with simple pipelines and iterate as the team grows.
Ensure automated tests have high coverage and reliability.
Train the team on CI/CD practices and tools.
Continuously monitor and optimize pipeline performance.
Keep deployment processes transparent and well-documented.
Don't Make These Mistakes
Overcomplicating the pipeline early on.
Failing to include automated tests in the pipeline.
Ignoring performance issues in CI/CD tools.
Allowing manual deployments to persist without automation.
Neglecting to involve the team in pipeline design and improvements.
Provided courtesy of Tricia Ballad, Tech Leader
Disentangled Tech