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No More Deployment Drama: Canary, Rolling, and Blue-Green Explained
Keep Your Releases Calm, Collected, and Completely Controlled
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Deployments are always nerve-wracking, aren’t they?
You’re pushing code to production, and while everything should go fine, there’s always that lingering fear in the back of your mind that something will go sideways. If you’ve ever had an app go down because of a bad release, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Luckily, we’ve come a long way from the old days when releasing new features meant stopping the entire service, crossing your fingers, and praying for smooth sailing.
Today, we have strategies like Canary Deployments, Rolling Deployments, and Blue-Green Deployments that help take some of the edge off.
Let’s walk through these approaches, what makes them unique, and when they might be your go-to choice.
Canary Deployments
Ever heard the phrase “canary in a coal mine”?
Miners used to bring canaries into the mines as an early warning system for dangerous gases. If the canary didn’t make it, they knew it was time to get out.