CI/CD Pipelines
Pipelines are a series of automated steps which can be executed when various events occur within a Git repository. For example, these events could be triggered by a new commit, a pull request, or a merge. Pipelines can be used for everything from automated code formatting, running tests and deploying code to different environments. They are a key tool within the development lifecycle, enabling many of the manual or repetitive tasks to be automated. This can help to ensure that code is of a high quality and that it is deployed in a consistent and reliable way.
Automated linting and formatting
One of the most common uses of pipelines is to automatically lint and format code. This can help to ensure that code is consistent across the codebase, and that it meets the standards set by the team. For example, a pipeline could be configured to run Prettier on all Apex and LWC code. This would ensure that all code is formatted in the same way, making it easier to read and understand, regardless of the original developer.
Automated deployments with pipelines
A key area within a Salesforce project that pipelines can assist in is the automated deployment of code to different environments. This can ensure that testing environments are always furnished with the latest code, and that the deployment process is consistent and reliable. Taken a step further, this can ensure that release branches can be automatically validated and deployed, without requiring a user to create changesets or manually deploy the code.