Summary

In this chapter, we explored the fundamentals of CI/CD. We discussed how to use Docker to containerize ASP.NET web API applications, including how to create a Dockerfile, build a Docker image, and run a Docker container locally. We then looked at Azure DevOps Pipelines, a powerful CI/CD platform from Microsoft, and how to create CI/CD pipelines in YAML files. We covered configuring triggers, using built-in tasks, and using variables. We created three pipelines for builds, Docker image builds, and releases. We also briefly discussed GitHub Actions, another popular CI/CD tool, and created a GitHub Actions workflow to build and test the application, then build the Docker image and push it to ACR. After reading this chapter, you should have a basic understanding of CI/CD and be able to use CI/CD pipelines to automate the build, test, and deployment process.

In the next chapter, we will examine some common practices for building ASP.NET web APIs, including caching, HttpClient...