What is a CI/CD pipeline?

The Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (or Deployment) pipeline (CI/CD) is a process that automates the processes involved in software development. The concept is split into two parts, as discussed in a study published in Software: Evolution and Process, “Continuous integration is a developer practice where developers integrate their work frequently, usually each person integrates at least daily, leading to multiple integrations per day. Continuous delivery is a development practice where every change is treated as a potential release candidate to be frequently and rapidly evaluated through one's continuous delivery pipeline.” The goal is to improve collaboration among team members and accelerate the delivery of new features and fixes. The integration of automation allows organizations to adapt quickly to changes in the IT environment and create better software products tailored to sectors like healthcare. 

The main components 

1. Source control: Developers store and manage their code using version control systems. It allows for tracking changes and maintaining a history of code modifications. 
2. Build automation: The code is then compiled and built into executable formats. 
3. Test automation: Automated tests are run to verify the functionality, performance, and security of the code. 
4. Deployment strategies: Methods for deploying the application to various environments are used to include strategies like blue-green deployments or canary releases. 
5. Continuous integration (CI): The process involves automatically integrating code changes into a shared repository multiple times a day. 
6. Continuous delivery: It extends CI by automatically preparing code changes for production release which is what places the software in a deployable state. 

The stages of a CI/CD pipeline

1. The initial stage is the source control where developers commit their code changes to a version control system. 
2. The committed code is compiled and built into an executable artifact. 
3. Automated tests are executed to verify the functionality and quality of the code. 
4. After successful testing, the application is deployed to a staging or production environment. 
5. Once deployed, the application is monitored for performance, errors, and user feedback. 

Related: Cybersecurity management lessons from healthcare data breaches

The benefit to the healthcare sector

The adoption of the CI/CD pipeline presents accelerated software delivery to the healthcare sector. Considering the need for timely access to updated information, the ability to deploy software updates rapidly allows healthcare organizations to respond swiftly to changing medical practices. For example, updates to clinical decision support systems can be rolled out quickly. By automating testing processes at every stage of development, CI/CD enables early detection of issues which improves software quality and reduces the risk of bugs in necessary applications like electronic health records (EHRs) or telemedicine platforms. 

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FAQs

What is the relation between DevSecOps and CI/CD? 

The relation between the two lies in their combined goal of producing secure high-quality software quickly. 

What are the disadvantages of CI/CD?

A primary disadvantage is the risk of overreliance on automation which can result in overlooking manual testing or reviews that could catch issues not identified by automated tests.