https://www.lambdatest.com/blog/what-is-jenkins/

• Jenkins is an open-source automation server used to automate software development processes.
• It facilitates continuous integration and deployment.
• Jenkins is highly extensible with hundreds of plugins available.

Why Jenkins?

• Jenkins solves problems in the software development lifecycle such as manual integration and inconsistent testing environments.
• It fits into the testing and deployment stages of the software development lifecycle.

Jenkins Release Cycle

Like other open-source projects, Jenkins also produces two release lines – LTS (Long-Term Support) and Weekly (regular) releases. Jenkins is very good with releases, as stable releases happen every four weeks.

Salient Features Of Jenkins

1. Easy Installation & Configuration:
   • Jenkins is platform-agnostic and can be installed on popular operating systems like Windows, Unix, and Mac OS.
   • It offers both a normal installer and a .war file for installation, with configuration done through its web interface.
2. Open-Source:
   • Jenkins is freely available as an open-source tool, backed by a strong community.
   • Users can leverage community support for extensibility, documentation, and other Jenkins-related features.
3. Thriving Plugin Ecosystem:
   • Over 1500 plugins are available in the Update Center, contributed and tested by the Jenkins community.
   • These plugins enhance Jenkins' functionality, making it adaptable to various development environments and workflows.
4. Easy Distribution:
   • Jenkins facilitates the distribution of work across multiple machines and platforms.
   • This enables faster build, testing, and deployment processes, enhancing overall efficiency.

Architecture

• Jenkins integrates with source code repositories like GitHub.
• Developers check code into the repository, triggering a build in Jenkins.
• Jenkins pulls code changes, builds, tests, and optionally deploys changes.
• Jenkins publishes results to the repository.