What s CI/CD pipe line?

Question

Sophie Lane · Accepted Answer

A CI/CD pipeline (Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery or Deployment pipeline) is an automated workflow that helps teams build, test, and deliver software faster and more reliably. Whenever developers push code changes, the pipeline automatically triggers steps like code integration, builds, and validations to ensure the application remains stable.
A key part of a CI/CD pipeline is 
test automation, which runs predefined tests (unit, integration, and regression tests) without manual intervention. This ensures that new changes do not break existing functionality and allows teams to catch issues early in the development cycle. By combining automated testing with continuous delivery, CI/CD pipelines enable frequent, high-quality releases with minimal risk.

Anubhav Kumar · Answer

CI/CD pipeline means an automated process that takes your code from
developer machine → production safely, repeatedly, and with minimal manual work.
Simple Definition (Interview-Ready)
CI/CD pipeline is an automated workflow that builds, tests, and deploys code whenever changes are made, ensuring fast, reliable, and repeatable software delivery.
and 
Think of it as a factory assembly line for software.
CI vs CD (Simple)
CI — Continuous Integration
“Are the changes correct?”
Developers push codeCode is built automaticallyTests run automaticallyErrors are caught early
CD — Continuous Delivery / Deployment
“Can we release it safely?”
Package the applicationDeploy to test / staging / productionRun post-deploy checksRoll back if something fails
Typical CI/CD Pipeline Flow
Developer
   ↓ (git push)
Source Control (Git)
   ↓
CI Server (build + test)
   ↓
Artifact (DLL / EXE / Docker Image)
   ↓
Deploy to Dev / QA / Prod
Step-by-Step Pipeline Stages
Source Code
GitHub / GitLab / Azure ReposTrigger: git push or pull request
Build
Restore dependenciesCompile code
Example (.NET):
dotnet restore
dotnet build
Test
Unit testsIntegration tests
dotnet test
Fail here → pipeline stopsand 
Code Quality (Optional but Important)
Static analysisCode coverageSecurity scan
Tools:
SonarQubeSnykOWASP scan
Artifact Creation
ZIP / DLLDocker imageNuGet package
Stored in:
Azure ArtifactsNexusDocker Registry
Deploy
Dev environmentQA / UATProduction
Deployment types:
IISDockerKubernetesAzure App Service
Post-Deploy
Health checkSmoke testsMonitoring
CI vs CD Difference Table
Feature
CI
CD
Purpose
Validate code
Release software
Trigger
Code commit
Successful CI
Automation
Build + test
Deploy
Risk
Low
Needs safeguards
Real Example (ASP.NET MVC 5)
CI
Restore NuGetBuild solutionRun MSTest
CD
Publish web appCopy files to IISRestart app pool
Example CI/CD Tools
Tool
Use
GitHub Actions
CI/CD
Azure DevOps
CI/CD
GitLab CI
CI/CD
Jenkins
CI/CD
TeamCity
CI/CD
Why CI/CD is Important
Faster releasesFewer bugs in productionConsistent buildsEasy rollbackTeam productivity
and

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What s CI/CD pipe line?

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2 Answers

Simple Definition (Interview-Ready)

CI vs CD (Simple)

CI — Continuous Integration

CD — Continuous Delivery / Deployment

Typical CI/CD Pipeline Flow

Step-by-Step Pipeline Stages

Source Code

Build

Test

Code Quality (Optional but Important)

Artifact Creation

Deploy

Post-Deploy

CI vs CD Difference Table

Real Example (ASP.NET MVC 5)

CI

CD

Example CI/CD Tools

Why CI/CD is Important

Liked By

Feature	CI	CD
Purpose	Validate code	Release software
Trigger	Code commit	Successful CI
Automation	Build + test	Deploy
Risk	Low	Needs safeguards

Tool	Use
GitHub Actions	CI/CD
Azure DevOps	CI/CD
GitLab CI	CI/CD
Jenkins	CI/CD
TeamCity	CI/CD