Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions (AZ-400) Practice

The practice of continuous integration is fundamentally centered around frequent code commits and automatic builds. This methodology encourages developers to regularly integrate their code changes into a shared repository, often several times a day. This process helps catch bugs early in the development cycle, ensuring that integration issues are addressed promptly and that the overall quality of the software is improved.

By automating the build process, teams can quickly verify that new code changes integrate well with the existing codebase. Continuous integration systems typically run automated tests against the newly integrated code to ensure it does not break any existing functionality. This frequent feedback loop allows development teams to detect issues early, making it easier and more cost-effective to fix them, thus enhancing collaboration and productivity within the software development process.

In contrast, other practices mentioned, such as regular deployments, testing applications after deployment, or using multiple frameworks, do not capture the essence of continuous integration as explicitly as frequent code commits and automatic builds do. Each of these other practices represents different aspects of software development and delivery but does not focus on the integration point that is foundational to continuous integration.