GitHub Actions is a continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) platform that allows you to automate your software development workflow. It is built on top of GitHub’s event-driven architecture, which means that you can trigger workflows based on events that occur in your repository, such as pushing code, creating a pull request, or opening an issue.

Components in GitHub Action

Workflows

As an automatic procedure, workflows are created by one or more jobs and these jobs can run periodically or be triggered when an event is received.

Jobs

Is a set of steps to execute on the same runner. By default, with a workflow running multiple jobs, these jobs run in parallel.

Steps

Are separate tasks to run commands (also called actions), each step in a job executes on.

Events

Is a fixed action to trigger a workflow, for example when a developer creates a certain development branch, this event is sent to the workflow, or you can use webhooks when receiving an external event that triggers the workflow.

Actions

Actions are reusable units of code that perform specific tasks. There are many pre-built actions available, and you can also create your own custom actions.

Runners

Are the machines that execute your workflows. Runners can be self-hosted or provided by GitHub. Github runner supports operating systems: Ubuntu Linux, Microsoft Windows, and macOS.

Outstanding features of GitHub Actions

In the dynamic world of software development, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) have become indispensable tools for streamlining development processes and ensuring the seamless delivery of high-quality software. GitHub Actions, a powerful CI/CD platform seamlessly integrated with GitHub, empowers developers to automate their workflows and enhance their software development lifecycle.

GitHub Actions effortlessly integrates with the GitHub platform, eliminating the need for additional software installations or configurations. This seamless integration enables developers to directly leverage GitHub Actions’ capabilities from the GitHub website, streamlining their workflows and maximizing productivity.

GitHub Actions’ versatility extends to its support for a wide range of operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu. This extensive support empowers developers to thoroughly test their applications across diverse platforms, ensuring compatibility and consistent performance on various environments.

GitHub Actions’ virtual environment execution capability enables developers to test their applications in various virtual environments. This feature proves particularly valuable for Node.js applications, as developers can define and test their applications against different Node.js versions, guaranteeing seamless functionality across diverse environments.

GitHub Actions seamlessly integrates with a vast array of third-party tools, empowering developers to extend their CI/CD processes with the tools that best suit their specific needs. For instance, GitHub Actions can be seamlessly integrated with AWS and Azure to facilitate seamless deployment of applications.

GitHub Actions provides comprehensive insights into your CI/CD process, including detailed information on source code versions, test results, and detected bugs. This valuable data empowers developers to effectively manage and optimize their source code, leading to enhanced software quality and reduced development time.

FAQ

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION

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git: The prefix of commands used under CLI.

branch: A branch is a parallel development path in a Git repository. It is used to isolate different versions of a project without affecting the main codebase.

commit: A commit is a snapshot of the files in a Git repository at a particular point in time. It is used to track changes in the project and to roll back to previous versions if necessary.

clone: Cloning a repository is the process of downloading a copy of a repository to your local machine. This is useful for working on a project with other people or for backing up your work.

folk: Forking a repository is the process of creating a copy of a repository on your own Git server. This is useful for making changes to a project without affecting the original repository.

repository: A repository is a collection of files and directories that are tracked by Git. It is the central location for storing and managing a project’s code and other files.

tag: A tag is a marker for a specific commit in a Git repository. It is used to identify a particular version of a project.

remote: A remote is a reference to a Git repository that is hosted on another server. It is used to fetch changes from the remote repository and to push changes to the remote repository.

diff: The diff command is used to compare the differences between two files or sets of files. It is used to identify the changes that have been made to a project.

.gitignore: The .gitignore file is a text file that tells Git which files to ignore. This is useful for ignoring files that you don’t want to track, such as generated files or temporary files.