Comparison
DeploymentvsRelease
Deployment
you put the new build on the servers, which is a completely separate event from anybody actually using the new behaviour.
Moving a build into an environment. It is a technical act, reversible and low-drama when the code is deployed dark. Conflating it with release is what makes shipping scary, because it forces every change to be exposed the moment it lands.
Full entry →Release
you flip the flag and users start getting the new behaviour, on code that has already been running in production for a week.
Exposing new behaviour to users. Separating it from deployment is the single highest-leverage change to a delivery process: deploys become routine and releases become a business decision with an instant off switch. It requires the code to be flag-guarded and both paths to be tested.
Full entry →