StarAgile
Jul 24, 2024
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The difference between CI/CD and Devops has been a never-ending debate. Despite being linked, these differ in many respects. Understanding the fundamental difference between CI/CD and DevOps is essential especially to make an informed decision on which one, why, and when to prioritise it. This article covers all those grounds!
DevOps is a software development approach between development and operations teams for
DevOps brings developers and operations together to produce high-quality software. For example, a team of data scientists is working to build a recommendation system for an e-commerce platform. Here,
So, DevOps is used to streamline the collaboration between all these teams in building and maintaining the recommendation system. Moreover, they can deliver frequent updates and recommendation systems, providing better-personalized recommendations and improving customer satisfaction.
CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery. It is a set of practices and tools that automate the software development process. This also includes building, testing, and deploying code changes.
For example, a data science team is working on a sentiment analysis model for a social media platform. With CI/CD,
Continuous Integration and Deployment Process ensures that the sentiment analysis model remains up-to-date and delivers accurate results to the platform's users. It enables the team to quickly iterate on improvements, address issues promptly, and ensure the best possible user experience.
Ground | Continuous Integration (CI) | Continuous Deployment (CD) |
Definition | Automates code integration and testing to catch errors early in the development process. | Automates the deployment of code changes to production environments. |
Objective | Ensure code changes are integrated smoothly and frequently tested to maintain code quality. | Enable rapid and automated deployment of code changes to production. |
Benefits |
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Key Tools |
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Here are the differences between CI/CD and Devops.
Grounds | Devops | CI/CD |
Focus | DevOps focuses on collaboration, shared responsibility, and holistic software development. It aims to improve product quality and customer satisfaction. | CI/CD emphasises automation, rapid feedback, and continuous delivery. It aims to accelerate development, reduce time to market, and enhance product reliability. |
Collaboration | Emphasises collaboration and communication between development and operations teams. This promotes shared responsibility and efficient software delivery. | Focuses on automating the integration, testing, and deployment processes. It enables frequent and reliable software releases. |
Team Roles | Encourages cross-functional teams where developers, operations professionals, and testers collaborate closely. These teams work together to achieve shared goals and improve product quality. | Involves developers and testers working together. They ensure code integration, quality assurance, and continuous deployment. |
Scope | These address cultural, organisational, and technological aspects, aiming for cultural change, improved processes, and tool adoption across the software lifecycle. | This narrows its scope to continuous integration, testing, and deployment. It helps streamline the development process for faster and more reliable releases. |
Philosophy | Fosters a culture of shared responsibility, accountability, and continuous improvement. Thus, it concentrates on collaboration and efficient software delivery.
| Follows the philosophy of automating key stages of the development process. Thus, it tries to execute faster feedback, continuous integration, and reliable deployments. |
Time Frame | It is an ongoing approach emphasising continuous improvement and collaboration throughout the software lifecycle, from planning to maintenance.
| It is more focused on specific stages of the development process. These include integration, testing, and deployment. |
Flexibility | DevOps is quite flexible. It accommodates different tools, technologies, and workflows, allowing organisations to choose the best fit for their needs. | CI/CD is comparatively less flexible. But it is flexible in adapting to project requirements and technology stacks, enabling customised deployment pipelines. |
Deployment | DevOps goes beyond deployment. It encompasses monitoring, maintenance, and addressing operational challenges to ensure software reliability and performance. | Primarily focuses on automating the deployment process, delivering code changes quickly and reliably. |
Automation | DevOps emphasises automation to streamline processes, reduce errors, and enhance efficiency. It automates tasks like configuration management, testing, and deployment. | Relies heavily on automating code integration, testing, and deployment processes for rapid and error-free software delivery. |
Scalability | DevOps has to address scalability challenges in both development and operations. It ensures systems can handle increased demand and growth. | CI/CD supports the scalability of development, testing, and deployment processes, allowing efficient handling of larger workloads. |
Risk Management | DevOps mitigate risks through collaboration, automation, and monitoring. It promotes early detection and resolution of issues. | CI/CD implements continuous testing and deployment to minimise risks associated with code integration. It ensures stable and reliable software releases. |
Feedback Loop | Emphasises continuous feedback and communication among team members and stakeholders. It helps in identifying areas for improvement and optimising processes. | Establishes feedback loops by providing immediate feedback on code quality through automated testing and deployment. This enables rapid iteration and improvement. |
Challenges | Implementing DevOps may face challenges related to cultural resistance, organisational silos, and tooling adoption. Overcoming these challenges requires
| Implementing CI/CD may encounter challenges related to infrastructure management, automated testing, and establishing a reliable deployment pipeline. Addressing these challenges involves building
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Overall Goal | Aims to improve collaboration, communication, and software quality by breaking down barriers between teams and fostering a culture of shared responsibility.
| Aims to achieve frequent and reliable software releases by emphasising rapid feedback, continuous integration, and delivery without focusing on broader collaboration or cultural transformation goals. |
Also Read: DataOps vs DevOps
While both have merits, determining which is better depends on your needs and goals. For instance, if the organisation values frequent releases and rapid feedback, CI/CD in DevOps is more suitable. If the focus is on streamlining collaboration and communication across teams, DevOps will help.
For example, a software development company aims to deliver new features quickly. So, the company might prioritise implementing CI/CD pipelines to
But, if the company has a complex infrastructure and multiple teams, it might prioritise DevOps practices to
Ultimately, the choice should align with the organisation's requirements and objectives.
Let's consider another example.
A mobile app development company wants to enhance its software delivery process. If the company focuses on implementing CI/CD practices, it can
However, if the company emphasises DevOps principles, it can
Thus, the choice depends on speed, collaboration, quality, and other factors that the company considers.
Also Read: DevOps Vs Full Stack
Although there is a considerable difference between CI/CD and DevOps, companies prefer to use both to achieve efficient collaboration and high software quality. Many leading brands prefer to hire candidates with DevOps training as skilled professionals guarantee the best results. To boost your career, enrol in StarAgile’s Industry Oriented DevOps Course delivered by industry experts with 20+ years of experience, industrial projects, and 6 Months of Certified Project Experience.
1.How does DevOps improve software delivery?
DevOps improves software delivery by
2.How does CI/CD ensure code quality?
CI/CD ensures code quality by
3.How does CI/CD support agile development?
CI/CD aligns well with agile development principles by
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