Continuous Integration

What Does Continuous Integration Mean?

In software development, continuous integration (CI) is the practice of regularly committing code changes to a version control system that can test and deploy code automatically. The term is often mentioned in tandem with continuous delivery, an approach in which code is tested automatically, but is released into production manually.

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CI/CD uses an iterative approach to releasing code and can be contrasted with the traditional waterfall method of software development.

Techopedia Explains Continuous Integration

Development teams use the continuous integration approach to software development because it allows them to develop in a quicker and more efficient manner than if they work separately for longer periods of time.

Developers using this approach submit changes to a source code repository, at which time the existing code base changes and new code can be added along with other resources that look for potential coding conflicts. There are also commercial CI servers that development teams can use to facilitate the CI process.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…