Episode 1 – What is CI/CD & Why GitHub Actions Matter?
When I started hearing terms like CI, CD, and GitHub Actions, everything felt abstract.
Workflows, runners, jobs, secrets… too many buzzwords.
This post is the first episode in a series where I break down GitHub Actions from absolute basics to real production pipelines, especially from a frontend developer’s perspective.
Let’s start with the foundation.
What is CI/CD (in simple terms)?
🔵 CI — Continuous Integration
CI is about checking code quality before merging.
Whenever a developer:
- pushes code
- opens a pull request
CI answers one question:
“Is this code safe to merge?”
Typical CI checks:
- Install dependencies
- Run linting
- Run tests
- Build the project
CI should be:
- fast
- safe
- no production secrets
🟢 CD — Continuous Delivery / Deployment
CD is about releasing code after it is merged.
It answers:
“How does this code reach users?”
CD usually includes:
- Building the final app
- Uploading artifacts
- Deploying to hosting (GitHub Pages, AWS, etc.)
- Using production secrets
- Manual approvals (for prod)
CI vs CD – One Table to Remember
| Aspect | CI | CD |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Validate code | Release code |
| Trigger | Pull Request | Push to main |
| Secrets | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Risk | Low | High |
| Approval | ❌ | Often required |
Where does GitHub Actions fit in?
GitHub Actions is the automation engine that helps you implement both CI and CD.
It lets you say:
- “Run tests on every PR”
- “Deploy when code is merged”
- “Run a job every night”
- “Publish releases automatically”
All using YAML files inside your repo.
A Very Simple GitHub Actions Example
name: CI
on: pull_request
jobs:
test:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- run: npm ci
- run: npm test
What this does:
- Runs when a PR is opened
- Checks out code
- Installs dependencies
- Runs tests
That’s CI.
How CI & CD Work Together
Pull Request
↓
CI (lint + test)
↓
Merge
↓
CD (build + deploy)
CI protects your codebase.
CD delivers value to users.
Why This Series?
Most tutorials jump straight into YAML without explaining:
- why things exist
- when to use what
- how production pipelines are designed
In this series, I’ll focus on:
- mental models
- real-world patterns
- frontend-focused examples
- common mistakes
What’s Next?
👉 Episode 2:
GitHub Actions Core Concepts – Workflows, Jobs, Steps & Actions
If you found this useful, follow me for the next episode 🚀
Let’s build confidence with GitHub Actions, one concept at a time.
Thanks for reading!
Happy automating 👋
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