Build Artifacts
ExplainedConcept
Also known as: Artefacten
The output of a build: JAR files, bundles, binaries or images ready for deployment.
Build Artifacts, explained
Written by EduVerseWhat it is
A build artifact is the file or package that a build produces from your source code, ready to be deployed or shared. For a Java service that’s typically a JAR file, for a frontend a folder of minified JavaScript and CSS. It’s the thing that actually runs in production, not the code in your editor.
Why teams use it
Building once and deploying that same artifact everywhere means test and production run identical bits. If every environment rebuilt from source, small differences in tools or dependencies could sneak in. Stored artifacts with version numbers also make rollbacks simple: you deploy the previous one again.
An example from work
A tester reports a bug in staging, but you can’t reproduce it locally. In the CI run for that deploy you open the Artifacts section, download the exact app.jar that was shipped and run it. Now you see the bug too: it was built from an older commit than you thought.
Our own explanation, not a quote from the book.
Where it fits
Output of CI pipelines, input for deployment
Coverage in the book
Explained and compared with alternatives, so you know where and why it’s used.
