What is the difference between continuous delivery and continuous deployment?

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What is the difference between continuous delivery and continuous deployment?

Continuous delivery and continuous deployment are both practices in the field of DevOps that aim to streamline the software development and release process. However, there is a subtle difference between the two.

Continuous delivery refers to the practice of continuously integrating code changes, building and testing the software, and then making it ready for deployment. In this approach, the software is always in a releasable state, but the actual deployment to production is done manually. Continuous delivery ensures that the software is always in a deployable state, allowing for faster and more frequent releases.

On the other hand, continuous deployment takes the concept of continuous delivery a step further. In continuous deployment, the entire process of integrating, building, testing, and deploying the software is automated. Once the code changes pass all the necessary tests, they are automatically deployed to production without any manual intervention. Continuous deployment eliminates the need for human decision-making in the deployment process, enabling even faster and more frequent releases.

In summary, the main difference between continuous delivery and continuous deployment lies in the level of automation in the deployment process. Continuous delivery focuses on ensuring the software is always in a deployable state, while continuous deployment automates the entire process, allowing for immediate deployment to production.