GitHub Actions: From Zero to Production(EP1)🚀

Episode 1 – What is CI/CD & Why GitHub Actions Matter?

When I started hearing terms like CI, CD, and GitHub Actions, everything felt abstract.
Workflows, runners, jobs, secrets… too many buzzwords.

This post is the first episode in a series where I break down GitHub Actions from absolute basics to real production pipelines, especially from a frontend developer’s perspective.

Let’s start with the foundation.

What is CI/CD (in simple terms)?

🔵 CI — Continuous Integration

CI is about checking code quality before merging.

Whenever a developer:

• pushes code
• opens a pull request

CI answers one question:

“Is this code safe to merge?”

Typical CI checks:

• Install dependencies
• Run linting
• Run tests
• Build the project

CI should be:

• fast
• safe
• no production secrets

🟢 CD — Continuous Delivery / Deployment

CD is about releasing code after it is merged.

It answers:

“How does this code reach users?”

CD usually includes:

• Building the final app
• Uploading artifacts
• Deploying to hosting (GitHub Pages, AWS, etc.)
• Using production secrets
• Manual approvals (for prod)

CI vs CD – One Table to Remember

Where does GitHub Actions fit in?

GitHub Actions is the automation engine that helps you implement both CI and CD.

It lets you say:

• “Run tests on every PR”
• “Deploy when code is merged”
• “Run a job every night”
• “Publish releases automatically”

All using YAML files inside your repo.

A Very Simple GitHub Actions Example

name: CI

on: pull_request

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

What this does:

• Runs when a PR is opened
• Checks out code
• Installs dependencies
• Runs tests

That’s CI.

How CI & CD Work Together

Pull Request
   ↓
CI (lint + test)
   ↓
Merge
   ↓
CD (build + deploy)

CI protects your codebase.
CD delivers value to users.

Why This Series?

Most tutorials jump straight into YAML without explaining:

• why things exist
• when to use what
• how production pipelines are designed

In this series, I’ll focus on:

• mental models
• real-world patterns
• frontend-focused examples
• common mistakes

What’s Next?

👉 Episode 2:
GitHub Actions Core Concepts – Workflows, Jobs, Steps & Actions

If you found this useful, follow me for the next episode 🚀
Let’s build confidence with GitHub Actions, one concept at a time.

Thanks for reading!
Happy automating 👋