CI/CD Pipelines and Software Environments: From Code to Production
I’ve been using Azure DevOps for a while now, mainly using on Boards to manage backlogs and sprints, and Repos for handling code and pull requests. But recently one of my projects was deployed to Azure, through which I have discovered a whole other part of DevOps I hadn’t really touched before: Pipelines. Here is what this experience has taught me about software environments and CI/CD pipelines.
What are the Different Software Environments and their purposes:
Development Environment: Is where the code is written and initially tested
Staging Environment: Is designed to mirror production and conduct final testing
Production Environment: Is the live environment where real users interact with the system
CI/CD Pipelines
A CI/CD pipeline is an automated workflow that moves software from code commit to production deployment. It combines Continuous Integration (CI), where developers frequently merge code into a shared repository with automated builds and tests, and Continuous Delivery/Deployment (CD), which automates packaging and releasing code to staging or production environments.
By automating build, test, and deployment steps, CI/CD pipelines reduce manual errors, speed up releases, and provide rapid feedback to developers, enabling smaller, safer, and more frequent updates.
Typical Pipeline Flow:
1. Commit Change – Developers push code to a version control system like Git. This triggers the pipeline.
2. Trigger Build – The CI/CD tool detects changes and starts the build.
3. Build – Code is compiled or packaged into deployable artifacts.
4. Run Tests – Automated unit, integration, and end-to-end tests validate functionality.
5. Deliver to Staging – Successful builds are deployed to a staging environment for further validation.
6. Deploy to Production – Code is released to production, either manually (Continuous Delivery) or automatically (Continuous Deployment).
