**Course Title:** Mastering Symfony: Building Enterprise-Level PHP Applications **Section Title:** Deployment and Cloud Hosting **Topic:** Setting up continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) with GitHub Actions or GitLab CI **Introduction** In this topic, we will explore the concept of continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) and how it can be implemented using GitHub Actions or GitLab CI. CI/CD is a software development practice that focuses on automating the build, test, and deployment of software applications. This topic will provide you with the knowledge and skills necessary to set up a CI/CD pipeline for your Symfony application. **What is CI/CD?** CI/CD is a software development practice that involves automating the build, test, and deployment of software applications. The goal of CI/CD is to ensure that software changes are quickly and reliably delivered to production, reducing the time and cost associated with manual testing and deployment. **GitHub Actions vs. GitLab CI** GitHub Actions and GitLab CI are two popular CI/CD tools that can be used to automate the build, test, and deployment of software applications. While both tools offer similar features, there are some key differences between them. * GitHub Actions is a cloud-based CI/CD tool that is tightly integrated with GitHub. It allows you to automate the build, test, and deployment of your application using GitHub repositories. * GitLab CI is a CI/CD tool that is part of the GitLab suite of tools. It allows you to automate the build, test, and deployment of your application using GitLab repositories. **Setting up CI/CD with GitHub Actions** To set up CI/CD with GitHub Actions, you will need to create a GitHub Actions workflow file. This file will define the steps that will be taken during the CI/CD process, including building, testing, and deploying your application. Here is an example of a GitHub Actions workflow file: ```yaml name: Build and Deploy on: push: branches: - main jobs: build-and-deploy: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - name: Checkout code uses: actions/checkout@v2 - name: Install dependencies run: composer install - name: Build application run: php bin/console doctrine:fixtures:load - name: Test application run: php bin/console doctrine:tests:unit - name: Deploy application run: php bin/console doctrine:migrations:migrate --no-interaction ``` This workflow file defines a job called `build-and-deploy` that will be triggered on push events to the `main` branch. The job will perform the following steps: 1. Checkout the code 2. Install dependencies 3. Build the application 4. Test the application 5. Deploy the application **Setting up CI/CD with GitLab CI** To set up CI/CD with GitLab CI, you will need to create a `.gitlab-ci.yml` file. This file will define the steps that will be taken during the CI/CD process, including building, testing, and deploying your application. Here is an example of a `.gitlab-ci.yml` file: ```yaml stages: - build - test - deploy build: stage: build script: - composer install - php bin/console doctrine:fixtures:load artifacts: paths: - public/ test: stage: test script: - php bin/console doctrine:tests:unit dependencies: - build deploy: stage: deploy script: - php bin/console doctrine:migrations:migrate --no-interaction only: - main ``` This `.gitlab-ci.yml` file defines three stages: `build`, `test`, and `deploy`. The `build` stage will perform the following steps: 1. Install dependencies 2. Build the application The `test` stage will perform the following steps: 1. Test the application The `deploy` stage will perform the following steps: 1. Deploy the application **Conclusion** In this topic, we have explored the concept of continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) and how it can be implemented using GitHub Actions or GitLab CI. We have also provided examples of how to set up a CI/CD pipeline for a Symfony application using both tools. **Practical Takeaways** * CI/CD is a software development practice that focuses on automating the build, test, and deployment of software applications. * GitHub Actions and GitLab CI are two popular CI/CD tools that can be used to automate the build, test, and deployment of software applications. * To set up CI/CD with GitHub Actions, you will need to create a GitHub Actions workflow file. * To set up CI/CD with GitLab CI, you will need to create a `.gitlab-ci.yml` file. **Leave a comment or ask for help if you have any questions or need further clarification on any of the topics covered in this topic.**