What is the primary purpose of continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD)?
The primary purpose of continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD) is to automate the software development lifecycle, facilitating rapid and reliable delivery of software updates. CI focuses on regularly merging code changes into a shared repository, where automated testing ensures that new code does not break existing functionality. CD extends this by automatically deploying verified code changes to production environments. Together, CI/CD practices enhance collaboration among developers, reduce time to market, and improve software quality through frequent and incremental releases, fostering a more agile development culture.