Continuous Delivery (CD)
Continuous Delivery is a software development approach aimed at delivering changes to software quickly, reliably, and safely into production.
Classification
- ComplexityMedium
- Impact areaTechnical
- Decision typeDesign
- Organizational maturityAdvanced
Technical context
Principles & goals
Use cases & scenarios
Compromises
- Potential overload from frequent deployments
- Dependency on automated tests
- Difficulties in coordination between teams
- Regularly review test coverage
- Use feature flags for new features
- Document all changes and processes
I/O & resources
- Current code in version control
- Automated test scripts
- Deployment environment
- Deployed software version
- Feedback on software quality
- Documentation of changes
Description
Continuous Delivery (CD) is a software development approach that enables teams to safely and efficiently deploy software changes to production at any time. CD builds on the principles of continuous integration and ensures that the software is always in a deployable state. This is achieved through automated testing, build processes, and deployment pipelines that provide rapid feedback on the quality of the software.
✔Benefits
- Increased deployment speed
- Improved software quality
- Higher user satisfaction
✖Limitations
- Requires high automation of tests
- May require complex infrastructure
- Not suitable for all projects
Trade-offs
Metrics
- Deployment Frequency
The frequency with which new versions are deployed.
- Error Rate
The number of errors that occur after a deployment.
- Recovery Time
The time taken to recover after a failure.
Examples & implementations
E-commerce Platform
An e-commerce company uses Continuous Delivery to deploy weekly updates for new products and features.
Banking Software
A bank implements Continuous Delivery to ensure that all changes to the software are thoroughly tested and deployed quickly.
Social Networking App
A social networking app uses Continuous Delivery to quickly implement new features based on user feedback.
Implementation steps
Setting up a CI/CD pipeline
Automating tests and deployments
Training the team in the new processes
⚠️ Technical debt & bottlenecks
Technical debt
- Insufficient test coverage.
- Outdated infrastructure.
- Lack of documentation.
Known bottlenecks
Misuse examples
- Deployment without sufficient testing.
- Ignoring error reports after deployment.
- Overloading infrastructure due to too frequent deployments.
Typical traps
- Assuming that automation solves all problems.
- Believing that Continuous Delivery requires no training.
- Confusion about roles within the team.
Required skills
Architectural drivers
Constraints
- • Regulatory requirements
- • Security standards
- • Technological compatibility