What is CI and what is CD?

CI (Continuous Integration) is the practice of frequently integrating code changes into a shared repository with automated building and testing. The goal is to quickly identify errors and conflicts, ensuring code stability.

CD (Continuous Delivery/Continuous Deployment) is a practice that follows CI, automating the delivery of changes to testing or production environments.

• Continuous Delivery — changes automatically pass all testing stages and are ready for release, but deployment to production is manual.
• Continuous Deployment — automatic deployment of all successful changes to production without manual intervention.

Example chain:

1. Developer pushes code to the repository.
2. CI system runs build and tests.
3. Upon successful completion, the CD process is triggered, deploying the application to a test server.
4. In Continuous Deployment — automatically to production.

This allows for faster release of new versions, improved quality, and reduced risks.