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Promoting changes from development to production settings is an essential part of software development for keeping a system stable and reliable. Code promotion and artefact promotion are two methods often used to spread the news about updates.
To further assist you in making an educated selection for your development process, this article will compare and contrast the two methods of “code promotion” and “artefact promotion,” as well as describe when each method is most suited.
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The term “code promotion” is used to describe the process of promoting modifications made to source code. After modifications to source code have been reviewed and found to be up to standard, they are promoted from the development branch to the testing or production branch.
The Pros of Promoting Codes
Independent Review, Testing, and Verification of Changes: Code promotion enables granular control over which particular code changes are promoted.
Code promotion fosters teamwork by enabling many developers to work in parallel on separate features or bug fixes, and then merge their work into a common branch once complete.
Changes may be traced back over time because of code promotion, which keeps a history of modifications in performance.
For projects that need a lot of time to test and validate their code before releasing it to production, code promotion is a great option because of its adaptability. In addition to code reviews and automated testing, it also supports continuous integration.
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During artefact promotion, created artefacts like compiled binaries, libraries, or Docker images are distributed to users in different settings. This method avoids releasing code changes in favour of pre-built and tested artefacts.
Promoting Artefacts Has Its Benefits
- Artefact promotion guarantees consistent deployments across diverse settings, reducing the likelihood of deployment-related difficulties and streamlining the deployment process.
- Promoting pre-built artefacts increases reproducibility by ensuring that the same application version is used in testing and production, which lessens the likelihood of compatibility or environment-related difficulties.
- Artefact promotion allows for more rapid deployments since just a single build of the application is required, and the same artefact may be used in all target environments.
- Promoting immutable artefacts makes it simpler to transition between versions or revert to a prior version in the event of a problem with the current one.
Promoting Something With or Without a Code
Different considerations, such as project needs, team dynamics, and deployment plans, should be considered when deciding between code promotion and artefact promotion.
Promotional codes are most effective when:
- Teams working on software development need granular oversight of all code modifications.
- Before implementing any kind of modification in production, it is necessary to do thorough testing and validation.
- Multiple developers or teams must work together so that they may focus on various features at the same time.
- It is essential to be able to go back and see how the codebase has changed over time.
- When: Artefact Promotion is most useful because:
- Maintaining uniformity in deployment is essential.
- The compatibility and stability of software rely on the capacity to reliably reproduce application versions.
- Deployments must be quick and dependable, with as little build time as possible.
- It is preferred to have an immutable infrastructure and the option to revert to a previous version.
- It’s important to remember that promoting code and promoting artefacts are not alternatives; rather, they may be combined to better serve a given project. Code promotion, for instance, is useful for prototyping and testing, whereas artefact promotion is used for releasing to production.
Conclusion
Promoting code and artefacts are two methods used in software development to move changes from the development to the production environments. In contrast to the standardisation, repeatability, and speed gains afforded by artefact promotion, the granular control, traceability, and collaborative development of code promotion are retained.
Project specifications, group dynamics, and deployment techniques should all be considered while deciding between the two methods. Taking all of this into account will help you make the right decision.
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