Pipeline

A manufacturing pipeline is a set of devices that have been put together in order to provide consistent results. This leads one to believe that one device is capable of connecting to or communicating with another, which is evidence that the input and output are compatible with one another. This is the same fundamental concept behind the pipe command in Linux, which joins instructions by making the output of one programme the input for another programme. When discussing the DevOps pipeline, we refer to each device as an action or a combination of activities that comply to a predetermined standard operating procedure (SOP).

1. Keep things as basic as possible; the action in question should be easy to use and understand, and it should only carry out a single purpose.
2. Make it modular, so that it may be disassembled into smaller components and reused in a more efficient manner.
3. Make use of plain text; the data formats associated with plain text are highly adaptable, and its volume is often very low.
4. Observe the generally acknowledged standards; in many instances, the conventions have to be created first. When developing an action, it is very necessary to operate in accordance with generally acknowledged conventions. As a direct consequence of this, the implementation of the action will be straightforward for all developers.

Pipelines are essential components in DevOps because they connect all of the many steps and procedures that are necessary for the delivery of software. It is the factor that defines how efficient and successful an organization’s capabilities in the area of DevOps become. The approach for the pipeline that is selected will have an effect on the velocity and quality controls that are implemented, which will, in turn, have an effect on the feedback loops.

The DevOps model places a great deal of importance on the branching mechanisms that are utilized in the pipeline. Yet, it is essential to refrain from making the presumption that branches invariably represent target environments. This issue, as well as the release flow and versioning process, will be covered in greater depth throughout the book, which will help you understand how to address the problem.

The two major cycles of delivery, the develop and test phases, are recommended to be separated from the staging and production phases as one of the recommended strategies for the pipeline. Because of this divide, there will now be two pipelines: the main pipeline, and the develop pipeline. This separation makes it possible to have faster feedback cycles in areas where they are required. It also makes it easier to establish the actions that are necessary for each pipeline, such as the testing kinds, deployment types, configuration flags, quality controls, and testing scopes. Each pipeline will be responsible for developing and executing its own testing plan.

For mission-critical applications, it is also advised to include an emergency pipeline. In the event of a crisis, the incident management team will be able to implement changes or carry out break-fix procedures thanks to this capability. In most cases, each pipeline anticipates receiving artefacts from certain preset branches. For instance, the main pipeline shouldn’t access any artefacts that are located in branches other than main or release.

The DevOps paradigm requires the inclusion of the pipeline strategy as one of its essential components. The selection of a pipeline will have an effect on the velocity and quality controls that are already in place, in addition to the feedback loops. It is absolutely necessary to give serious thought to branching methods and to put emergency pipelines in place for applications that are mission-critical.

The pipeline technique in DevOps bears a striking resemblance to Henry Ford’s revolutionary production line. This relationship may be found in both fields. Henry Ford’s invention of the assembly line and other standardised methods of mass production ushered in a new era in the manufacturing industry by dramatically improving productivity while simultaneously lowering production costs. In a similar vein, the pipeline strategy that is a part of DevOps tries to improve efficiency by standardising and automating the process of software delivery.

In both instances, the goal is to simplify complicated procedures by partitioning them into more manageable subtasks that may be carried out in a manner that is both speedy and effective. Henry Ford’s assembly line was meant to provide a continuous flow of production, with each worker doing a specified duty in a specific order. This allowed the line to function more efficiently. In a similar manner, the pipeline strategy in DevOps is intended to provide a continuous flow of software delivery. Each step in the pipeline is centred on a particular activity or task, and the overall goal is to create a continuous flow.

The two also place an emphasis on quality control, which is another commonality between them. With the assembly line that Henry Ford developed, quality control was undertaken at each stage to guarantee that the finished product lived up to the specifications that had been established. In a similar manner, the pipeline technique in DevOps incorporates several quality control tests at each step of the pipeline to ensure that the software is of the greatest possible quality when it is delivered.

The production line revolution started by Henry Ford and the pipeline technique used in DevOps have similar goals: to improve quality control and efficiency while simultaneously lowering costs. Despite the fact that manufacturing and software delivery are in separate businesses, the underlying principles and methods that are applied in both have led to major breakthroughs in both of these areas.