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Unconventional approach, isn't it? Who has the time to unit test pipelines? Well, if you've ever had a deployment go sideways because someone forgot to update a pipeline file, you'll understand why I did this. Nobody wants to be the person who breaks the build right before the weekend.
Ensuring the integrity of a CI/CD pipeline is crucial, especially in a monorepo where multiple projects depend on each other. A simple update to one package can have a ripple effect, and before you know it, half the services are failing. Wouldn't it be nice to catch those issues before they land in production? That’s exactly what I set out to accomplish. Why Unit Test Pipelines?
- Catch Errors Early: Detect issues before they reach production.
- Check Dependencies: Ensure changes in one project don’t disrupt others.
- Early Feedback: Identify and fix problems quickly to reduce stress.
- Follow Best Practices: Avoid shortcuts to maintain quality.
- Prevent Costly Failures: Resolving issues early saves time and resources.
How I Did It
I used YamlDotNet for parsing YAML pipeline files and MSBuild API to scan project dependencies. By comparing what's in the pipeline with what projects actually need, I ensured everything stays aligned and prevented nasty surprises.
Parsing YAML with YamlDotNet
YamlDotNet is a fantastic .NET library for handling YAML, which is great because most CI/CD pipelines rely on YAML configurations. I used it to read and analyze pipeline definitions to extract relevant build steps, dependencies, and triggers.