How do you test and validate your releases in continuous deployment?

1 Automate your testing

One of the key benefits of continuous deployment is that it reduces manual intervention and human error. To take advantage of this, you need to automate your testing as much as possible. This means using tools and frameworks that can run unit tests, integration tests, functional tests, performance tests, security tests, and other types of tests on your code and infrastructure. You also need to configure your testing environment to mimic your production environment as closely as possible. This way, you can catch any bugs or issues before they affect your users.

2 Implement feedback loops

Another important aspect of continuous deployment is that it enables you to collect and analyze feedback from your users and stakeholders. This feedback can help you validate your releases and improve your product. You can implement feedback loops by using various methods, such as surveys, ratings, reviews, analytics, monitoring, logging, and error reporting. You can also use tools and platforms that allow you to communicate with your users and get their input and suggestions. By incorporating feedback into your development process, you can ensure that your releases meet the needs and expectations of your users.

3 Use feature flags and canary releases

Sometimes, you may want to test and validate your releases on a subset of your users or in a controlled environment before rolling them out to everyone. This can help you reduce the risk of introducing bugs or breaking changes that can affect your entire user base. You can use feature flags and canary releases to achieve this. Feature flags are switches that allow you to enable or disable certain features or functionalities in your code. You can use them to turn on or off features for specific users, segments, or regions. Canary releases are a technique that allows you to deploy a new version of your software to a small percentage of your users and monitor its performance and behavior. You can use them to compare the results of your new release with your previous release and decide whether to proceed or rollback.

4 Establish quality gates and approval processes

Even though continuous deployment is designed to speed up and streamline your delivery process, you still need to have some checks and balances to ensure the quality and consistency of your releases. You can establish quality gates and approval processes to do this. Quality gates are criteria or standards that your releases have to meet before they can move to the next stage of the pipeline. For example, you can set quality gates for code coverage, test results, security scans, code reviews, and compliance audits. Approval processes are mechanisms that require human authorization or confirmation before your releases can be deployed or promoted. For example, you can set approval processes for critical or sensitive features, major or minor changes, or emergency or scheduled releases.

5 Review and improve your release management process

Finally, you need to review and improve your release management process regularly to ensure that it is aligned with your business goals and user needs. You can do this by measuring and evaluating your release metrics, such as release frequency, release duration, release failure rate, release rollback rate, and release impact. You can also do this by conducting retrospectives and post-mortems after each release or sprint to identify what went well, what went wrong, and what can be improved. By reviewing and improving your release management process, you can optimize your testing and validation strategies and enhance your continuous deployment capabilities.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?