Build Pipeline

A build pipeline is the process of automating the creation and deployment of software applications. It involves taking code from a version control repository, building and testing it, and then deploying the built artifacts to environments like testing, staging, and production. The goal of a build pipeline is to provide fast, reliable and repeatable software releases.

The build pipeline is made up of a series of stages that perform discrete steps in the software delivery process. For example, a typical pipeline would include stages for fetching source code, compiling code, running unit and integration tests, security scanning, creating deployment packages, and deploying to servers. Popular tools like Jenkins, CircleCI and TravisCI allow you to define these stages in a YAML file and will then execute them sequentially when code is pushed to a repository. The pipeline provides visibility into the process through logs and notifications. It enables early detection of problems through test stages. Automating deployments through the pipeline also reduces risk and enables more frequent releases.