CI/CD Pipeline Stages

Question

What are the typical stages of a CI/CD pipeline and why is each stage important?

Answer

A typical CI/CD pipeline has four main stages: Build (compile code, install dependencies), Test (run unit, integration, and security tests), Deploy (release to staging/production), and Monitor (track application health). Each stage must pass before proceeding. Failed tests block deployment, preventing bugs from reaching production.

Why This Matters

CI/CD pipelines automate the path from code commit to production. Each stage serves as a quality gate - if any step fails, the pipeline stops, ensuring only validated code reaches users. This automation reduces manual errors and enables faster, safer releases.

Code Examples

GitHub Actions pipeline

yaml

Common Mistakes

Skipping tests to deploy faster (technical debt)
Not having proper staging environments for pre-production testing
Missing rollback procedures when deployments fail

Follow-up Questions

Interviewers often ask these as follow-up questions

What is the difference between continuous integration and continuous deployment?
How do you handle database migrations in a CI/CD pipeline?
What testing should be automated vs manual in a pipeline?