Continuous Integration (CI) is a software development practice where developers regularly integrate code into a shared repository, such as a version control system. Each integration is then verified by an automated build, allowing teams to detect problems early.
For example, a development team can use CI to set up a process where each time code is pushed to the shared repository, an automated build process is triggered. This build process can include running unit tests, performing static code analysis, and generating a deployable artifact. If any of these steps fail, the team will be alerted so that they can quickly address the issue.