Shift Left - CI/CD Glossary Definition

Shift left moves testing and quality checks earlier so defects are caught when they are cheapest to fix.

Shift left is moving testing, security, and quality checks earlier in the delivery process, so defects are found closer to when they are introduced and cost less to fix.

How it works

Running linting, unit tests, and security scans on every commit (and even on pre-commit hooks) catches problems before they reach later, more expensive stages.

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