Build Automation

What is CI/CD?

CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Deployment — a practice where developers merge code frequently into a shared branch (CI), trigg…

What is a Dockerfile?

A Dockerfile is a plain-text script of sequential instructions that tells the Docker engine exactly how to assemble a Docker image, layer by layer.

What is a CI/CD Pipeline?

A CI/CD pipeline is the automated sequence of stages — checkout, build, test, and deploy — that takes a code change from commit to running in an environment, w…

What is the Difference Between ENTRYPOINT and CMD?

ENTRYPOINT defines the fixed, always-executed command a container runs, while CMD supplies default arguments to that command (or a default full command if no E…

What is the Docker Build Context and Why Does It Matter?

The Docker build context is the set of files at a specified path (or URL) that the Docker client packages up and sends to the Docker daemon before a build star…

What is Jenkins and How Does It Work?

Jenkins is an open-source, self-hosted automation server that orchestrates build, test, and deployment pipelines, defined as code in a Jenkinsfile and executed…

What is GitHub Actions and How Do Workflows Run?

GitHub Actions is GitHub’s native CI/CD platform where workflows are defined as YAML files in .github/workflows, triggered by repository events, and executed o…

What is Pipeline as Code?

Pipeline as Code means the CI/CD pipeline’s build, test, and deploy stages are defined in a version-controlled file, such as a Jenkinsfile or a GitHub Actions…

Declarative vs Scripted Jenkinsfile: What Is the Difference?

A Declarative Jenkinsfile uses a fixed, structured syntax (pipeline { agent { } stages { } } blocks) that is easier to read, validate, and lint, while a Script…

How Does Caching Work in a CI/CD Pipeline?

CI/CD pipeline caching stores the outputs of expensive, repeatable steps — downloaded dependencies, compiled build artifacts, Docker image layers — keyed by a…

What Are CI/CD Pipeline Triggers and How Do They Work?

A pipeline trigger is the event that causes a CI/CD pipeline to start running automatically — most commonly a Git push or pull request, but also a scheduled ti…

What is an Artifact Repository?

An artifact repository is a centralized, versioned storage system for the binary outputs of a build — such as compiled packages, Docker images, JAR files, or n…

Nexus vs Artifactory: What Are the Differences?

Sonatype Nexus Repository and JFrog Artifactory are both artifact repository managers that store, version, and proxy build packages, but they differ mainly in…