Table of Contents
What Is Continuous Delivery?
Continuous delivery (CD) is a software development practice in which code changes are automatically built, tested, and deployed to production as soon as they are committed. This allows for faster and more frequent releases, and enables teams to quickly respond to customer feedback and fix bugs.
CD is typically achieved by automating the entire deployment pipeline, from building and testing code changes to deploying them to various environments, such as development, staging, and production.
Here is a general overview of how continuous delivery works in application development:
- Code changes are committed to a version control system: Developers write code and commit it to a version control system (such as Git) as soon as it’s ready.
- Automated build and testing: Once code changes are committed, an automated build process is triggered. The build process compiles the code and generates a binary or executable file. After the build is complete, automated testing is performed to ensure that the new code changes don’t break existing functionality.
- Deployment to staging environment: If the build and tests are successful, the code changes are deployed to a staging environment. This environment is used to simulate a production environment and test the code changes in a realistic setting.
- Approval for production deployment: Once the code changes have been tested in the staging environment, they are reviewed and approved for production deployment. This step is usually performed by a QA or operations team member.
- Deployment to production: Once the code changes are approved, they are deployed to the production environment. This can be done manually or automatically, depending on the specific CD pipeline you have in place.
- Monitoring and feedback: After the code changes are deployed to production, they are monitored for performance, stability, and errors. Feedback is collected from users to improve the process and the application itself.
Is Continuous Delivery Right for You? Pros and Cons
Continuous delivery can be a beneficial practice for many organizations, but it may not be the right fit for every team or project. Some of the pros of using continuous delivery include:
- Faster and more frequent releases: Continuous delivery allows teams to quickly get new features and bug fixes to customers, which can improve the overall user experience and increase customer satisfaction.
- Improved collaboration: Continuous delivery promotes collaboration between development, testing, and operations teams, as they all work together to automate the deployment pipeline and ensure that code changes can be safely and quickly deployed to production.
- Increased agility: Continuous delivery enables teams to respond quickly to customer feedback and changing business requirements, as code changes can be deployed to production as soon as they are ready.
- Improved quality: Continuous delivery helps to catch bugs and other issues early in the development process, as code changes are automatically built, tested, and deployed to various environments.
However, there are also some cons to consider when deciding whether to use continuous delivery:
- Complexity: Continuous delivery can be complex to implement and maintain, especially if your organization has a large number of legacy systems or a complex technical environment.
- High-risk: Continuous delivery can increase the risk of issues occurring in production, as code changes are deployed more frequently and with less human intervention.
- High-cost: Continuous delivery requires significant investment in tools, infrastructure, and staff training to implement and maintain.
- Security: Continuous delivery has an impact on your information security policies. Supply chain attacks are a big threat to organizations today, and continuous integration servers must be closely protected to ensure attackers cannot compromise them.
Continuous Delivery Best Practices for Mobile App Development
Here are best practices that can help teams ensure code changes are automatically built, tested, and deployed to production safely and efficiently:
Start with CI
Continuous integration (CI) is the foundation of continuous delivery, and it’s important to have a solid CI process in place before attempting to implement CD. This means that code changes are automatically built, tested, and integrated with the main branch as soon as they are committed. This helps to catch issues early and ensure that code changes are always in a releasable state.
Define a Cadence
Once a solid CI process is in place, it’s important to define a cadence for releases. This means setting a schedule for when code changes will be deployed to production and communicating this schedule to all stakeholders. Having a clear release schedule helps to ensure that code changes are deployed in a predictable and consistent manner.
Measure Stability & Performance
It’s important to measure the stability and performance of mobile app builds before they are deployed to production. This can be done by automating the testing process and using tools to monitor app performance in different environments. Measuring stability and performance helps to ensure that the app is functioning as expected and that any issues are identified and addressed before they reach production.
Communicating with Testers
CD requires close collaboration between development, testing, and operations teams. It’s important to communicate with testers throughout the development process to ensure that they have access to the latest builds and that any issues are identified and addressed in a timely manner.
Prioritize Consistency
Ensuring consistency across the entire development lifecycle and the codebase can help ensure that code changes are deployed in a predictable and reliable manner. This can lead to faster and more frequent releases, improved collaboration between development, testing, and operations teams, and increased agility in responding to customer feedback and changing business requirements.
Conclusion
In conclusion, continuous delivery can be a valuable practice for mobile app development teams, as it allows for faster and more frequent releases, improved collaboration, increased agility, and improved quality. However, it’s important to carefully evaluate the pros and cons of continuous delivery to determine whether it’s the right fit for your team or project.
CD can be complex to implement and maintain, and it can increase the risk of issues occurring in production. It also requires significant investment in tools, infrastructure, and staff training. To implement continuous delivery effectively, teams should start by implementing a solid CI process, defining a cadence for releases, and setting up a well-defined and consistent process.