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Welcome to our comprehensive guide on AWS CodePipeline. In this article, we’ll cover the key features and benefits of CodePipeline, explain continuous integration and continuous delivery concepts, and review the core components that power a CI/CD workflow.
The image is a diagram illustrating three concepts: features and benefits of CodePipeline, continuous integration and delivery, and basic components for a CI/CD pipeline, each represented with icons and labeled sections.

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A Real-World Analogy: Cody’s Pipeline

Imagine Cody, a successful cabinet merchant whose business was growing faster than his production line could handle:
  1. He sourced premium wood from multiple suppliers.
  2. Each piece was sent to various shops for assembly.
  3. Finished cabinets were shipped by truck, train, boat, or plane.
The back-and-forth logistics created a backlog. One night, Cody dreamed of a magical piping system connecting every supplier, builder, and shipper—automating the entire flow of materials and finished goods. He called it Cody’s Pipeline.
Cody’s Pipeline is an analogy for how AWS CodePipeline automates your software delivery process.
The image shows a world map with icons representing pipelines in various locations, labeled as "Cody's Pipeline."

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What Is AWS CodePipeline?

AWS CodePipeline is a fully managed CI/CD service that orchestrates your release workflow:
  • Continuous Integration (CI): Merge and build code changes automatically.
  • Continuous Delivery (CD): Test and deploy updates without manual steps.
The image shows an infinity loop symbol representing CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) with a gradient color scheme. Below, it equates CI/CD to Non-Stop Integration/Non-Stop Deployment.
A typical CodePipeline workflow includes four primary stages:
StagePurposeExample Tool
SourceRetrieve code artifacts from repos or buckets.AWS CodeCommit, GitHub, S3
BuildCompile, package, or transpile source code.AWS CodeBuild, Jenkins
TestExecute automated tests (unit, integration).AWS CodeBuild, custom scripts
DeployRelease to environments: containers, VMs, Lambda.ECS, EKS, EC2, AWS Lambda
When one stage succeeds, the pipeline advances automatically. You can add manual approvals or custom actions at any point.

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Benefits of AWS CodePipeline

  • Automation: Reduce manual steps and human errors.
  • Scalability: Automatically scale pipelines and build resources.
  • Visibility: Monitor execution history, logs, and notifications per stage.
  • Customization: Integrate third-party tools, add manual approvals, or run custom scripts.
The image shows a DevOps lifecycle diagram with stages like Source, Build, Test, and Deploy, alongside an AWS logo with an upward arrow and a ribbon, suggesting AWS certification or achievement.
Be mindful of resource usage and execution costs. Review AWS Pricing before enabling long-running pipelines.
By adopting CodePipeline, teams can accelerate release cycles, maintain high quality, and improve time to market through continuous integration and continuous delivery.

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Next Steps

In the next section, we’ll dive into real-world use cases and walk you through creating your very first pipeline.

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