In this book, we will look at the concepts of continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) and apply these concepts using tools such as Jenkins, Travis CI, and CircleCI. There will be many hands-on scripts that we will write, and we will explore real-world CI/CD automation scripts and scenarios. This chapter will help illustrate the concept of automation by explaining the current practices of a fictitious company called Billy Bob's Machine Parts. Billy Bob's Machine Parts has a lot of manual processes in place and there is some tension between quality assurance (QA) and the developer team because the software releases are only done by the lead developer and all QA testing is done manually.
The following topics will be covered in this chapter:
- Manual processes – a hypothetical scenario
- Employee frustration
- Introducing automation
- Developer productivity
- Breaking down communication barriers
- Creating an environment of collaboration
