What is the difference between Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Deployment?
Continuous Integration (CI) is the practice of merging code to a shared branch frequently, with each change automatically built and tested to catch integration problems early. Continuous Delivery extends this so the software is always in a releasable state — every change that passes the pipeline could be deployed, but the actual production release is a deliberate manual decision. Continuous Deployment goes one step further: every change that passes all stages is automatically released to production with no human gate. The acronym CD covers both delivery and deployment.
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What is an artifact in a CI/CD pipeline and why build it once?
An artifact is the immutable, versioned output of the build stage — a container image, a JAR/WAR, a binary, a package. The principle "build once, deploy many" means you produce the artifact a single time and then promote that exact artifact through dev → staging → production. Rebuilding per environment risks subtle differences (different dependency versions, build flags) so that what reaches production is not what you tested. Storing artifacts in a registry with version tags also enables fast, reliable rollback to a known-good build.
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What is a quality gate in a pipeline?
A quality gate is an automated pass/fail checkpoint embedded in the pipeline that blocks progression unless defined criteria are met: all tests pass, code coverage stays above a threshold, static analysis/SAST finds no critical issues, no high-severity dependency vulnerabilities, lint and formatting are clean. Gates encode the team's definition of "good enough to proceed" so quality is enforced automatically rather than relying on human discipline. A failing gate stops the build and surfaces exactly what must be fixed, shifting quality checks left to where they are cheapest to address.
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What is a blue-green deployment?
In a blue-green deployment, you maintain two production environments. "Blue" serves live traffic while you deploy and smoke-test the new version on the idle "green." When green is verified, you flip the router/load balancer to send all traffic to green instantly. The big advantages: near-zero-downtime cutover and instant rollback (flip back to blue if something is wrong). The cost is running double the infrastructure during the switch. It contrasts with a canary release, which shifts traffic gradually rather than all at once.
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What is a canary release and how does it reduce risk?
A canary release (named after the "canary in a coal mine") exposes a new version to a small slice of traffic — say 1%, then 5%, then 25% — while closely watching error rates, latency, and business metrics. If the canary stays healthy, you progressively increase its share until it serves everyone; if metrics degrade, you halt and roll back, having affected only a small fraction of users. This limits the blast radius of a faulty release and surfaces problems that only appear under real production traffic, which staging cannot fully reproduce.
What does the "CI/CD Pipelines" vocabulary exercise cover?
This exercise tests real IT vocabulary related to ci/cd pipelines through 5 multiple-choice questions, each built from realistic workplace sentences rather than abstract definitions.
Is this vocabulary exercise free to use?
Yes. Every exercise on CoderSlingo, including this one, is completely free — no account, sign-up, or payment required.
How many questions does this exercise have?
This exercise has 5 questions. Each one shows a real-world sentence or scenario with multiple-choice options and an explanation once you answer.
What happens after I answer a question?
You'll see immediate feedback showing whether your answer was correct, along with a short explanation of why — then a button to move to the next question, and a full results screen at the end.
Can I retry the exercise if I get questions wrong?
Yes. Once you reach the results screen, click "Try again" to reset your answers and go through the exercise from the start as many times as you like.
Do I need to create an account to take this exercise?
No account is needed. Your answers are scored in your browser during the session — nothing is saved to a server, so you can jump straight in.
Is my progress saved if I leave the page?
No — progress within an exercise resets if you navigate away or reload. Each exercise is short enough to complete in a few minutes in one sitting.
Are these vocabulary exercises connected to other topics?
Yes — this module shares real-world context with 2 other vocabulary modules. See "Related vocabulary" below to keep building a connected skill set.
How is this different from reading a glossary or blog article?
Exercises like this one are active recall drills — you have to choose the correct term or phrasing yourself, which builds retention faster than passively reading a definition.
Where can I find more vocabulary exercises?
Browse the full Vocabulary exercises hub for hundreds of modules covering Agile, DevOps, security, databases, architecture, and more — organised by IT role and skill.