Google LLC today announced a collaboration with GitHub Inc. at the Google Cloud Next conference that’s focused on simplifying a key part of modern software projects.

At the center of the partnership is Cloud Build, a service the company introduced at the event on Tuesday. It’s a CI/CD (continuous integration and continuous delivery) tool designed to automate the labor-intensive task of deploying code to production. Google created it with projects that use Docker software containers in mind.

Software containers let developers bundle code into lightweight packages that can be easily moved across different environments. Docker has become an important component of many CI/CD pipelines, since the technology’s portability lends itself well to moving files from a developer’s laptop or a testing environment to production. Google’s new alliance with GitHub is aimed at further streamlining the deployment process.  

If GitHub recognizes a Docker file in a code repository, it will now suggest a selection of outside CI/CD tools for developers that includes Cloud Build. Google’s service has been given a prominent spot on the list as part of the partnership. Once a user selects Cloud Build, they can access its capabilities directly in GitHub without having to open a new tab.

The integration places a particular emphasis on the build phase of projects. That’s when a piece of code is converted into a working application component, a prerequisite to deployment. Cloud Build offers developers a choice between using an automated build mechanism or defining their own custom workflow.

Users can tweak just about every aspect of the process. They may add new steps to the build workflow, cache Docker files to reduce waiting times and specify where they should be deployed.

Google Cloud engineering head Melody Meckfessel (pictured) wrote in a blog post that the integration will let users push code directly to the tech giant’s cloud platform. She named two services in particular: Google’s Kubernetes Engine for running containers and the App Engine application hosting platform.

According to Meckfessel, the company plans to introduce support for additional environments over time. That includes other cloud platforms and on-premises infrastructure.

On top of addressing what is an increasingly central part of software development in the enterprise, the new integration provides a timely reaffirmation of Google’s relationship with GitHub in the wake of its acquisition by Microsoft Corp. Only three days ago, Google Cloud Chief Executive Diane Greene said in an interview that she’s “sort of sad they’re at Microsoft,” adding “hopefully, you know, they won’t favor Microsoft, but, you know, that’s where it is.”

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