A Brief Guide To Continuous Integration

As the name suggests, Continuous Integration literally means a process where something is merged frequently.

In Continuous Integration, the code changes are integrated frequently into the main branch of a repository after which the changes are tested thoroughly. Continuous Integration keeps the master branch clean.

The main goal of Continuous Integration is to come up with a quick feedback when a defect is introduced in code so that it can be corrected at the earliest.

CI originated from extreme programming but the principles can be applied to the Agile programming as well.

The Benefits of Continuous Integration:

1- There is low bug accumulation: CI finds bugs early, after which fixes are done, which in turn, reduces bug accumulation.

2- It is cost effective: It is needless to say, when bug accumulation is reduced, the cost is optimized.

3- Early error detection: If there is an error, the build will fail at some stage. This means that the developer has to fix that bug before proceeding further.

4- Setting Continuous Delivery: Continuous Integration reduces the manual intervention, which results in the success of continuous delivery.

5- Continuous Integration is Transparent: There is a proper feedback on the tests that are failing and are causing failure. This enables the Developers and the QA team to take appropriate decisions and improve efficiency.

Continuous Integration in Testing:

1- Automation Framework: Every QA team should build a test automation framework which triggers the tests automatically, for current and new tests.

2- Automation across different types of testing: The Functional and Non-Functional tests like Performance, Regression, Acceptance are different types of testing which should be included in the Automation test coverage.

3- Bugs: Bug logging in Continuous Integration can be automated. QA teams can poll errors coming in the logs which are automatically logged upon encounter.