Continuous Integration for Python Projects

1. Introduction

Continuous Integration (CI) is a software development practice that enables developers to integrate code changes frequently, leading to automated testing and deployment. This lesson will guide you through the essentials of implementing CI for Python projects.

2. What is Continuous Integration?

Continuous Integration refers to the practice of automatically building and testing code changes to detect issues early. Developers frequently commit their code to a shared repository, triggering the CI pipeline to perform various tasks like building the application, running tests, and deploying to production.

3. Benefits of CI

• Early detection of bugs
• Improved collaboration among team members
• Faster iteration and deployment cycles
• Reduced integration problems

4. Popular CI Tools

There are several CI tools available that can be integrated with Python projects:

• Travis CI
• CircleCI
• GitHub Actions
• GitLab CI
• Jenkins

5. Setting Up CI for Python

Here's a step-by-step guide to set up CI with GitHub Actions for a Python project:

name: CI

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
    - name: Checkout code
      uses: actions/checkout@v2
      
    - name: Set up Python
      uses: actions/setup-python@v2
      with:
        python-version: '3.8'
    
    - name: Install dependencies
      run: |
        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
        pip install -r requirements.txt

    - name: Run tests
      run: |
        pytest

6. Best Practices

• Run tests on every commit to catch issues early.
• Keep CI configurations simple and maintainable.
• Use version control for CI configuration files.
• Monitor CI results and address failures promptly.

7. FAQ