Overview
Jenkins is one of the oldest and most widely used CI/CD tools. It is highly extensible, with thousands of plugins available to integrate with almost any tool in the software development lifecycle.
Key Features
- Pipeline as Code: Uses 'Jenkinsfiles' (Groovy-based) to define complex build and deployment workflows.
- Distributed Builds: Can distribute work across multiple 'agent' machines to speed up builds.
- Extensibility: Plugins for everything from source control (Git, SVN) to cloud providers and testing frameworks.
- Self-Hosted: Typically installed and managed on your own infrastructure.
Current Status
While newer, cloud-native tools have emerged, Jenkins remains a powerhouse in the enterprise due to its flexibility and massive ecosystem.