Note: the code samples may be displayed improperly because of markdown. I recommend to continue reading the original article on our blog to make sure all the examples are displayed properly. Note: the code samples may be displayed improperly because of markdown. I recommend to continue reading the original article on our blog to make sure all the examples are displayed properly. continue reading the original article on our blog CI definition and its main goal Continuous Integration (CI) is a software development practice that is based on a frequent integration of the code into a shared repository. Each check-in is then verified by an automated build. The main goal of continuous integration is to identify the problems that may occur during the development process earlier and more easily. If you integrate regularly — there is much less to check while looking for errors. That results in less time spent for debugging and more time for adding features. There is also an option to set up inspection of the code style, cyclomatic complexity (low complexity makes the testing process more simple) and other checks. That helps to minimize the efforts of the person responsible for the code review, saves time, and improves the quality of the code How it works Developers check the code locally on their computers
When completed — they commit changes to the repository
Repository sends a request (webhook) to CI system
CI server runs job (tests, coverage, check syntax and others)
CI server releases saved artifacts for testing
If the build or tests fail, the CI server alerts the team
The team fixes the issue Developers check the code locally on their computers Developers check the code locally on their computers When completed — they commit changes to the repository When completed — they commit changes to the repository Repository sends a request (webhook) to CI system Repository sends a request (webhook) to CI system CI server runs job (tests, coverage, check syntax and others) CI server runs job (tests, coverage, check syntax and others) CI server releases saved artifacts for testing CI server releases saved artifacts for testing If the build or tests fail, the CI server alerts the team If the build or tests fail, the CI server alerts the team The team fixes the issue The team fixes the issue CircleCI vs Travis CI vs Jenkins Now, when the process of continuous integration is clear (I hope so) we can move to the comparison of some of the most popular CI platforms nowadays. Each of those has its pros and cons. Let’s start with CircleCI. CircleCI Features : Features : CircleCI is a cloud-based system — no dedicated server required, and you do not need to administrate it. However, it also offers an on-prem solution that allows you to run it in your private cloud or data center.
It has a free plan even for a business account
Rest API — you have an access to projects, build and artifacts The result of the build is going to be an artifact or the group of artifacts. Artifacts could be a compiled application or executable files (e.g. android APK) or metadata (e.g. information about the tests`success)
CircleCI caches requirements installation. It checks 3rd party dependencies instead of constant installations of the environments needed
You can trigger SSH mode to access container and make your own investigation (in case of any problems appear)
That’s a complete out of a box solution that needs minimal configuration\adjustments CircleCI is a cloud-based system — no dedicated server required, and you do not need to administrate it. However, it also offers an on-prem solution that allows you to run it in your private cloud or data center. It has a free plan even for a business account Rest API — you have an access to projects, build and artifacts The result of the build is going to be an artifact or the group of artifacts. Artifacts could be a compiled application or executable files (e.g. android APK) or metadata (e.g. information about the tests`success) CircleCI caches requirements installation. It checks 3rd party dependencies instead of constant installations of the environments needed You can trigger SSH mode to access container and make your own investigation (in case of any problems appear) That’s a complete out of a box solution that needs minimal configuration\adjustments CircleCI is compatible with: CircleCI is compatible with: Python, Node.js, Ruby, Java, Go, etc
Ubuntu (12.04, 14.04), Mac OS X (paid accounts)
Github, Bitbucket
AWS, Azure, Heroku, Docker, dedicated server
Jira, HipChat, Slack Python, Node.js, Ruby, Java, Go, etc Ubuntu (12.04, 14.04), Mac OS X (paid accounts) Github, Bitbucket AWS, Azure, Heroku, Docker, dedicated server Jira, HipChat, Slack CircleCI Pros: CircleCI Pros: Fast start
CircleCI has a free plan for enterprise projects
It’s easy and fast to start
Lightweight, easily readable YAML config
You do not need any dedicated server to run CircleCI Fast start CircleCI has a free plan for enterprise projects It’s easy and fast to start Lightweight, easily readable YAML config You do not need any dedicated server to run CircleCI CircleCI Cons: CircleCI Cons: CircleCI supports only 2 versions of Ubuntu for free (12.04 и 14.04) and MacOS as a paid part
Despite the fact CircleCI do work with and run on all languages tt supports only the following programming languages “out of the box”: CircleCI supports only 2 versions of Ubuntu for free (12.04 и 14.04) and MacOS as a paid part Despite the fact CircleCI do work with and run on all languages tt supports only the following programming languages “out of the box”: Go (Golang), Haskell, Java, PHP, Python, Ruby/Rails, Scala Some problems may appear in case you would like to make customizations: you may need some 3rd party software to make those adjustments
Also, while being a cloud-based system is a plus from one side, it can also stop supporting any software, and you won’t be able to prevent that Some problems may appear in case you would like to make customizations: you may need some 3rd party software to make those adjustments Also, while being a cloud-based system is a plus from one side, it can also stop supporting any software, and you won’t be able to prevent that Travis CI Travis CI and CircleCI are almost the same Both of them: Both of them: Have YAML file as a config
Are cloud-based
Have support of Docker to run tests Have YAML file as a config Are cloud-based Have support of Docker to run tests What does TravisCI offer that CircleCI doesn’t? Option to run tests on Linux and Mac OS X at same time
Supports more languages out of the box: Option to run tests on Linux and Mac OS X at same time Supports more languages out of the box: Android, C, C#, C++, Clojure, Crystal, D, Dart, Erlang, Elixir, F#, Go, Groovy, Haskell, Haxe, Java, JavaScript (with Node.js), Julia, Objective-C, Perl, Perl6, PHP, Python, R, Ruby, Rust, Scala, Smalltalk, Visual Basic Support of build matrix Support of build matrix Build matrix language: python  python:    - "2.7"  - "3.4"  - "3.5"env:    - DJANGO='django>=1.8,<1.9'  - DJANGO='django>=1.9,<1.10'  - DJANGO='django>=1.10,<1.11'  - DJANGO='https://github.com/django/django/archive/master.tar.gz'matrix:    allow_failures:    - env: DJANGO='https://github.com/django/django/archive/master.tar.gz' language: python  python:    - "2.7"  - "3.4"  - "3.5"env:    - DJANGO='django>=1.8,<1.9'  - DJANGO='django>=1.9,<1.10'  - DJANGO='django>=1.10,<1.11'  - DJANGO='https://github.com/django/django/archive/master.tar.gz'matrix:    allow_failures:    - env: DJANGO='https://github.com/django/django/archive/master.tar.gz' Build matrix is a tool that gives an opportunity to run tests with different versions of language and packages. You may customize it in different ways. For example, fails of some environments can trigger notifications but don’t fail all the build ( that’s helpful for development versions of packages) You May Also Like: Merging Django ORM with SQLAlchemy for Easier Data Analysis_Django development of products is usually easy and straightforward: great documentation, many tools out of the box…_djangostars.com Merging Django ORM with SQLAlchemy for Easier Data Analysis Merging Django ORM with SQLAlchemy for Easier Data Analysis _Django development of products is usually easy and straightforward: great documentation, many tools out of the box…_djangostars.com Django Performance Optimization Tips_I frequently face a recurring situation when developers receive a task to make a performance optimization on Django…_djangostars.com Django Performance Optimization Tips Django Performance Optimization Tips _I frequently face a recurring situation when developers receive a task to make a performance optimization on Django…_djangostars.com TOX In case you prefer any other CI platform — there is always an option to create a Build Matrix by using Tox. [tox]envlist = py{27,34,35}-django{18,19,110,master}

[testenv]deps =      py{27,34,35}: -rrequirements/test.txt    django18: Django>=1.8,<1.9    django19: Django>=1.9,<1.10    django110: Django>=1.10,<1.11    djangomaster: https://github.com/django/django/archive/master.tar.gzcommands = ./runtests.py

[testenv:py27-djangomaster]ignore_outcome = True [tox]envlist = py{27,34,35}-django{18,19,110,master}

[testenv]deps =      py{27,34,35}: -rrequirements/test.txt    django18: Django>=1.8,<1.9    django19: Django>=1.9,<1.10    django110: Django>=1.10,<1.11    djangomaster: https://github.com/django/django/archive/master.tar.gzcommands = ./runtests.py

[testenv:py27-djangomaster]ignore_outcome = True Tox is a generic virtualenv management and test command line tool. You may install it by using pip install tox or easy_install tox command. pip install tox easy_install tox Travis CI Pros: Travis CI Pros: Build matrix out of the box
Fast start
Lightweight YAML config
Free plan for open-sourced projects
No dedicated server required Build matrix out of the box Fast start Lightweight YAML config Free plan for open-sourced projects No dedicated server required Travis CI Cons: Travis CI Cons: Price is higher compared to CircleCI, no free enterprise plan
Customization (for some stuff you’ll need 3rd parties) Price is higher compared to CircleCI, no free enterprise plan Customization (for some stuff you’ll need 3rd parties) Jenkins Features: Features: Jenkins is a self-contained Java-based program, ready to run out-of-the-box, with packages for Windows, Mac OS X and other Unix-like operating systems
With hundreds of plugins in the Update Center, Jenkins integrates with practically every tool in the continuous integration and continuous delivery toolchain
Jenkins can be extended via its plugin architecture, providing nearly infinite possibilities for what Jenkins can do
Various job modes: Freestyle project, Pipeline, External Job, Multi-configuration project, Folder, GitHub Organization, Multibranch Pipeline
Jenkins Pipeline. That’s a suite of plugins which supports implementing and integrating continuous delivery pipelines into Jenkins. Pipeline provides an extensible set of tools for modeling simple-to-complex delivery pipelines “as code” via the Pipeline DSL
Allows you to launch builds with various conditions.
You can run Jenkins with Libvirt, Kubernetes, Docker, and others.
Rest API — have access to Controlling the amount of data you fetch, Fetch/Update config.xml, Delete a job, Retrieving all builds, Fetch/Update job description, Perform a build, Disable/Enable a job Jenkins is a self-contained Java-based program, ready to run out-of-the-box, with packages for Windows, Mac OS X and other Unix-like operating systems With hundreds of plugins in the Update Center, Jenkins integrates with practically every tool in the continuous integration and continuous delivery toolchain Jenkins can be extended via its plugin architecture, providing nearly infinite possibilities for what Jenkins can do Various job modes: Freestyle project, Pipeline, External Job, Multi-configuration project, Folder, GitHub Organization, Multibranch Pipeline Jenkins Pipeline. That’s a suite of plugins which supports implementing and integrating continuous delivery pipelines into Jenkins. Pipeline provides an extensible set of tools for modeling simple-to-complex delivery pipelines “as code” via the Pipeline DSL Allows you to launch builds with various conditions. You can run Jenkins with Libvirt, Kubernetes, Docker, and others. Rest API — have access to Controlling the amount of data you fetch, Fetch/Update config.xml, Delete a job, Retrieving all builds, Fetch/Update job description, Perform a build, Disable/Enable a job Jenkins Pros: Jenkins Pros: Price (it’s free)
Customization
Plugins system
Full control of the system Price (it’s free) Customization Plugins system Full control of the system Jenkins Cons: Jenkins Cons: Dedicated server (or several servers) are required. That results in additional expenses. For the server itself, DevOps, etc…
Time needed for configuration / customization Dedicated server (or several servers) are required. That results in additional expenses. For the server itself, DevOps, etc… Time needed for configuration / customization Conclusion What CI system to chose? That depends on your needs and the way you are planning to use it. CircleCI is recommended for small projects, where the main goal is to start the integration as fast as possible. Travis CI is recommended for cases when you are working on the open-source projects, that should be tested in different environments. Jenkins is recommended for the big projects, where you need a lot of customizations that can be done by usage of various plugins. You may change almost everything here, still this process may take a while. If you are planning the quickest start with the CI system Jenkins might not be your choice. Which CI system do you prefer? Leave us a comment to share your thoughts. You are always welcome to ask questions and share topics you want to read about! The article is written by Oleksandr Shaporda (ALEXANDER SHAPORDA) — a PR Manager at Django Stars. This article about continuous integration is originally published on Django Stars blog. The article is written by Oleksandr Shaporda (ALEXANDER SHAPORDA) — a PR Manager at Django Stars. This article about continuous integration is originally published on Django Stars blog. Oleksandr Shaporda ALEXANDER SHAPORDA) ALEXANDER SHAPORDA Django Stars continuous integration continuous integration Specially shared with Hackernoon readers. Specially shared with Hackernoon readers. Hackernoon If you find this post useful, please tap 👏 button below :) If you find this post useful, please tap 👏 button below :) If you find this post useful, please tap 👏 button below :)

Django Stars

Fetch

Heroku

Slack

How to Create and Deploy a Telegram Bot?

Mobile UX Design Checklist. 13 things to keep in mind

Read My Stories

Too Long; Didn't Read

Make resilience your competitive advantage

Continuous Integration. CircleCI vs Travis CI vs Jenkins

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

Untitled Story

10 Popular Websites Built With Django Framework

104 Stories To Learn About Continuous Integration

139 Stories To Learn About Cicd

Our Ancestors Could Have Solved Food Scarcity With AI - Noonies Nominee TRex

15 of the Best Continuous Delivery Tools

10 Popular Websites Built With Django Framework

104 Stories To Learn About Continuous Integration

139 Stories To Learn About Cicd

Our Ancestors Could Have Solved Food Scarcity With AI - Noonies Nominee TRex

15 of the Best Continuous Delivery Tools

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps