Introduction To Android CI/CD Pipelines

• What is CI/CD?

  • CI: Continuous Integration

  • CD: Continuous Delivery or Deployment

• CI/CD enhances the software development life cycle:

  • Continuous Integration: Developers merge code frequently to a central repository.

  • Continuous Delivery: A review step occurs before deployment.

  • Continuous Deployment: Automates deployment directly after integration.

Key Concepts Discussed

1. Software Development Workflow

   • Development → Testing → Deployment.

   • CI/CD ensures automation, validation, and efficiency.

2. CI/CD Workflow Breakdown

   • Event Trigger: A push, pull request, or manual event initiates the workflow.

   • Jobs: Tasks like code build, test, and deployment.

   • Environment: Uses runners (Ubuntu, Windows, or macOS) to execute workflows.

   • Steps: Detailed commands executed sequentially.

   • Artifacts: Generated build files (e.g., APK).

3. Creating a CI/CD Pipeline Using GitHub Actions

   • Step-by-step process for Android projects:

     • Setup GitHub Repository: Push Android project code to a repository.

     • Define Workflow Directory:

       • .github/workflows/

     • Create Workflow File: Use .yml format to define commands and jobs.

4. Writing the Workflow (YAML File)

   • Define events:

     • Trigger on push and pull_request for the master branch.

   • Jobs:

     • Environment: Ubuntu runner.

     • Steps:

       1. Checkout the latest code using GitHub Actions.

       2. Set up the Java Development Kit (JDK) environment.

       3. Build the project using Gradle (./gradlew build).

       4. Upload the generated APK as an artifact.

5. Error Handling and Debugging

   • Debugging missing paths for APK files.

   • Correct setup for Java version (Java 17).

   • Ensuring proper artifact upload paths.

6. Final Verification

   • Successful CI/CD pipeline execution in GitHub Actions.

   • Downloading the generated APK for testing or release.

Refer below code snap to implement CI/CD in you’re projects:

codename: AndroidBuild
on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [ master ]
  push:
    branches: [ master ]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout Code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.0

      - name: Set Up Java JDK
        uses: actions/setup-java@v3.13.0
        with:
          java-version: '17'
          distribution: 'adopt'

      - name: Grant Execute Permission for Gradlew
        run: chmod +x ./gradlew

      - name: Clean and Build with Gradle
        run: ./gradlew clean build

      - name: Upload Build Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3.1.3
        with:
          name: AndroidDemo.apk
          path: app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk