Heroku CI vs Travis CI: What are the differences?
Introduction
In this Markdown code, we will explore the key differences between Heroku CI and Travis CI, two popular Continuous Integration (CI) platforms.
-
Platform Integration: Heroku CI is tightly integrated with the Heroku platform, making it seamless for developers to use the CI functionality. On the other hand, Travis CI is a standalone CI service that can be used with various hosting providers, including GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab.
-
Configuration: Heroku CI uses a declarative YAML-based configuration file called app.json to define the CI pipeline, while Travis CI uses a .travis.yml configuration file. The syntax and structure of these configuration files differ, requiring developers to adapt to the specific format of each service.
-
Parallelism and Concurrency: Heroku CI allows parallel test runs by default, making it efficient for running tests in parallel. In contrast, Travis CI provides parallel test execution as a feature only in its paid plans, making it less accessible to users on free or open-source projects.
-
Containerization Technology: Heroku CI uses Heroku Dynos, which are based on Docker containers, for running tests. In contrast, Travis CI uses a customized and preconfigured Linux environment for executing tests. The choice of containerization technology can impact the test execution environment and resource management.
-
Deployment: Heroku CI is tightly integrated with Heroku's deployment pipeline, allowing developers to deploy their applications seamlessly after successfully passing the tests. Travis CI, being a standalone service, does not offer deployment functionality out of the box, requiring developers to handle deployment separately.
-
Pricing: Heroku CI is a feature of the Heroku platform and included in the platform's pricing, which is based on dyno hours and additional add-ons. Travis CI, on the other hand, offers different pricing plans based on usage, with free tiers available for open-source projects.
In summary, the key differences between Heroku CI and Travis CI lie in their platform integration, configuration files, parallelism and concurrency support, containerization technology, deployment capabilities, and pricing models.