{"id":443,"date":"2024-06-26T14:41:24","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T14:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/research-software-engineering\/?p=443"},"modified":"2024-06-26T15:16:32","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T15:16:32","slug":"adopting-a-more-rational-use-of-continuous-integration-with-github-actions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/research-software-engineering\/2024\/06\/26\/adopting-a-more-rational-use-of-continuous-integration-with-github-actions\/","title":{"rendered":"Adopting a more rational use of Continuous Integration with GitHub Actions"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Chris Cave-Ayland<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Imperial RSE Team we make extensive use of continuous integration<\/a> (CI) with
\nGitHub Actions<\/a>. We use CI to ensure our projects build and are correct across a range of
\nscenarios (OS, python version, dependency version, etc.). Widely accepted wisdom is that
\nit is best practice to catch issues early via frequent and thorough CI rather than to
\ncatch them later. This must however be set against the monetary and environment cost of
\nrunning unnecessary compute workloads on every push to GitHub. In particular, the
\npricing structure of GitHub Actions means workloads run on Windows and MacOS are more
\ncostly (certainly financially and presumably environmentally). This is particularly the
\ncase for private repositories for which Imperial has a fixed budget of minutes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some recent issues with hanging GitHub Actions runners caused us to review our approach
\nto CI across our full set of projects. We decided there is no one size fits all
\napproach, but we should be more parsimonious in our use of CI by default whilst
\nreviewing the need for more comprehensive CI as issues arise in individual projects.<\/p>\n

To come up with our new standard approach we considered the key points in development
\nwhere CI can be used. Under our typical development practices, there are four times
\nwhen CI workflows may be run. Decreasing in frequency of occurrence:<\/p>\n