# Continuous Delivery vs Continuous Deployment — CI/CD

Source: https://www.geekswithgeeks.com/en/cicd/cicd-delivery-vs-deployment

> Both automate everything up to production — they differ on the last step.

## Continuous Delivery

**Continuous Delivery** means every change that passes the pipeline is automatically packaged into a **release-ready** build. Releasing it to production is still a deliberate, usually manual, decision — a person clicks 'deploy'.

## Continuous Deployment

**Continuous Deployment** goes one step further: every change that passes the pipeline is deployed to production **automatically**, with no human in the loop. This demands very strong automated testing and monitoring.

## Packed bag vs boarding the flight

Continuous Delivery is having your bag packed and ready by the door every day — you still choose when to leave. Continuous Deployment is getting on every flight the moment it's ready, no second thought.

**Quiz:** In Continuous Delivery, what is the final step to reach production?

- [ ] It happens automatically, no human involved
- [x] A person makes a deliberate decision to release
- [ ] The build is discarded and rebuilt weekly

*Answer:* A person makes a deliberate decision to release. Continuous Delivery keeps builds always release-ready, but a human still triggers the actual release. Continuous Deployment removes that human step.