What is the main purpose of implementing continuous integration in software development?

The main purpose of implementing continuous integration (CI) in software development is to detect issues early in the development process. CI encourages developers to integrate their code changes frequently, ideally several times a day. Each integration is automatically verified by running tests, which allows teams to identify and address bugs or conflicting changes quickly. This proactive approach helps maintain code quality and minimizes the risk of major issues arising later in the development cycle, thereby streamlining the overall development process.

While reducing time to market, ensuring compatibility across platforms, and upgrading system security are important aspects of software development, they are not the primary focus of continuous integration. Instead, the CI process fundamentally centers around code integration and testing, which directly fosters early detection of problems. By addressing issues promptly, developers can iteratively improve the software, ultimately leading to a more robust and reliable final product.