Azure DevOps Pipelines Fundamentals

Azure Pipelines automates builds, tests, and deployments with YAML pipelines.

Core Concepts

• Pipeline: End-to-end CI/CD definition.
• Stage: Environment-level boundary.
• Job: Unit running on an agent.
• Task: Built-in operation in a job.
• Service Connection: Secure integration to cloud/tools.

Best Practices

• Use multi-stage YAML for environment promotion.
• Protect branches and require PR validation.
• Use variable groups and key vault integration.
• Separate infra and application deployment concerns.