Jenkins Freestyle Jobs vs Pipeline: Which Should You Use?

When working with Jenkins, you'll encounter two main job types. Here's what I learned about when to use each.

Freestyle Jobs: GUI-Based Configuration

Freestyle projects are Jenkins traditional approach, where everything is configured through the web interface.
It is best for:

1. Simple build tasks 
2. Quick prototypes and experiments
3. Jobs that rarely change

Limitations:

1. Configuration isn't version-controlled
2. Manual replication across projects
3. Gets messy with complex workflows
4. No code review for changes

Pipeline Jobs: Code-Driven Automation
Pipeline defines your CI/CD workflow as code in a Jenkinsfile:

pipeline {
    agent any {
    stages {
        stage('Build') {
           steps {
               sh 'npm install && npm run build'
           }
        }
        stage('Test') {
           steps {
               sh 'npm test'
           }
        }
        stage('Deploy') {
            steps {
               sh './deploy.sh'
           }
        }
     }
}

It is best for:

1. Production deployments
2. Multi-stage workflows (dev-> stage -> prod)
3. Anything you need to replicate
4. Complex orchestration needs

Key advantages:

1. Version controlled with your code
2. Reusable across projects ( just copy the Jenkinsfile )
3. Code review for pipeline changes
4. Supports parallel execution 

The Bottom Line
Freestyle jobs are beginner-friendly and work fine for simple tasks. Pipelines are the modern standard for production CI/CD because they're scalable, version-controlled, and automatable.
Start learning with freestyle to understand Jenkins basics, then transition to pipelines for anything production-grade. You don't need to convert everything; keep simple jobs as freestyle if they work well.

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Further reading: 
Jenkins Pipeline Documentation
Pipeline Best Practices