The GitLab CI Manual: The Textbook You’ve Always Needed — #1 Introduction

This five-part series aims to serve as an all-encompassing manual for developers who are new to GitLab CI/CD, as well as seasoned developers searching for a comprehensive handbook. To begin, it is crucial to understand what CI/CD pipelines are and why GitLab is the preferred platform for these tools. Before delving into the intricacies of CI/CD pipelines, it is essential to familiarize oneself with the jargon that will be encountered throughout this series. Any technical terms will be highlighted with an asterisk (*) for easy lookup.

Pipelines have evolved from developers manually setting up dependencies, infrastructure, and running scripts to automate these tasks. However, scripts can cause problems such as silent failures, unset variable issues, and unverified releases. To address these issues, pipelines were created to automate 90% of the work that would otherwise be done manually, including deployment and infrastructure setup.

Various CI tools have emerged following the introduction of pipelines, including GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, and CircleCI. Each tool has its unique features, such as GitLab CI's native Terraform integration and GitHub Actions' lack of native integration requiring third-party support. Ultimately, the choice of which pipeline to use depends on the specific needs of the company or individual.

When comparing different CI platforms, GitLab emerges as the best option for production-standard DevOps teams due to its native Terraform integration and strong DevOps engineering capabilities. As the first installment of this series, we will explore GitLab and its core attraction point for developers - CI/CD capabilities. Any feedback or corrections are welcome in the comments.