8.7 CI vs CD vs deploy vs release (refresh)
You met these words in Chapter 1. Pipeline language pins them down:
| Term | Pipeline meaning |
|---|---|
| CI | Integrate + verify on every change |
| CD (delivery) | Always have a prod-ready artifact; deploy may wait |
| CD (deployment) | Auto-deploy every green main build |
| Deploy | Put artifact on an environment |
| Release | Make a feature visible to users (sometimes after deploy, via flag) |
Tiny example. Tag sha-a3f2 deploys to production at 10:00 behind a flag. At 12:30 the flag turns on for 10% of traffic — that later moment is the release.
Practice task
Write four bullets for badge API: one each for CI, Continuous Delivery, deploy, and release, using the lunch-menu story.