Continuous integration and delivery for C++ projects using Docker

01 Oct 2023

Docker

In modern software development, continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) practices have become essential for ensuring the quality, reliability, and timely delivery of software projects. While CI/CD is commonly associated with web applications, it is equally important for C++ projects. In this blog post, we will explore how to set up and utilize Docker to enable CI/CD for C++ projects.

Why Docker?

Docker is a powerful containerization platform that allows developers to package their applications and dependencies into isolated containers. This makes it easier to maintain consistent development and deployment environments across different systems and eliminates the notorious “works on my machine” problem.

Setting up the CI/CD Pipeline

To set up a CI/CD pipeline for a C++ project using Docker, we need to follow a series of steps:

Create a Dockerfile: The Dockerfile is a text file that defines the environment for building and running the C++ project. It specifies the base image, installs necessary dependencies, and sets up the required configuration.
Build the Docker Image: Using the Dockerfile, we can build a Docker image that contains the development environment for our C++ project. This image can be used to create consistent build and test environments across different systems.

# C++ Dockerfile
FROM ubuntu:latest

# Install required packages
RUN apt-get update && \
    apt-get install -y build-essential cmake

# Copy project files
COPY . /app

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Build the project
RUN cmake .
RUN make

Configure CI Server: Set up a CI server, such as Jenkins or Travis CI, to automate the build, test, and deployment processes. Configure the server to pull the project code, build the Docker image, and run tests within the Docker container.
Run Tests: Utilize testing frameworks, such as Google Test or Catch2, to write automated tests for your C++ project. Configure the CI server to execute these tests within the Docker container to ensure the integrity of your codebase.
Deployment: Configure the CI server to deploy the project to staging or production environments once the build and tests have passed. This can involve pushing the Docker image to a container registry, deploying to a cloud platform, or performing any necessary deployment tasks.

Benefits of Using Docker for CI/CD in C++ Projects

Using Docker for CI/CD in C++ projects offers several benefits:

Consistency: Docker ensures that the development and deployment environments remain consistent across various systems, reducing the likelihood of configuration-related issues.
Isolation: Each build and test process runs in a separate Docker container, ensuring the independence of one build/test from another.
Reproducibility: Docker images can be versioned, allowing for easy reproducibility of specific build and deployment environments.
Scalability: Docker enables easy scaling of the CI/CD infrastructure by running multiple containers concurrently to handle increasing workload.

Conclusion

By leveraging Docker containers, C++ projects can benefit from the advantages of CI/CD practices. Docker ensures a consistent and isolated development environment, simplifies the setup of build and test processes, and enables easy deployment. Incorporating Docker into your CI/CD pipeline can lead to improved productivity, software quality, and faster time-to-market for your C++ projects.

#C++ #Docker #CI #CD