Introduction to GitHub Actions: Understanding Key Terms and Building Your First GitHub Action

Testing Automation

Learn the fundamentals of GitHub Actions and create your first custom action. Explore automation, inputs, outputs, steps, and more to streamline your software development workflow.

Key takeaways

GitHub Actions is a continuous integration and continuous delivery platform that automates software development workflows.
You can use GitHub Actions to automate tasks, such as building, testing, and deploying code.
There are three types of custom actions: Docker, JavaScript, and composite.
Docker actions run using a Docker container, JavaScript actions use Node.js, and composite actions combine multiple actions.
Custom actions can accept inputs, which are passed to the action as environment variables.
Actions can also have outputs, which are returned to the workflow.
To build a custom action, you need to create a YAML file that defines the action’s inputs, outputs, and steps.
Steps are executed in order, and can include shell commands, GitHub Actions, or other actions.
You can use GitHub Actions to test, build, and deploy code, as well as to automate other tasks.
The platform supports multiple runners, including macOS, Windows, and Ubuntu.
You can use matrix to run the same action on multiple runners and platforms.
GitHub Actions also support workflow dispatch, which allows you to manually trigger a workflow.
To use GitHub Actions, you need to create a workflow file in YAML, which defines the workflow’s inputs, outputs, and steps.
The workflow file can include sub-workflows, which can be triggered by specific events.
You can also use GitHub Actions to integrate with other tools and services, such as Docker and Jenkins.
The platform provides a large collection of events that can trigger workflows, including push events, pull request events, and more.
GitHub Actions provides a built-in logging system that allows you to view the output of your workflows.
You can also use GitHub Actions to integrate with other GitHub features, such as GitHub Pages and GitHub Packages.
GitHub Actions provides a free plan, as well as several paid plans with additional features.
To get started with GitHub Actions, you need to create a GitHub profile and create a new repository.
You can use the GitHub Actions built-in editor to create and edit your workflow files.
GitHub Actions provides a large community of users and developers who can help you with any questions or issues you may have.

Introduction to GitHub Actions: Understanding Key Terms and Building Your First GitHub Action

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