Build Artifact
A build artifact is an immutable output of the build process (binary/image/package) with a version identifier, stored in an artifact repository for deployment.
Purpose
Version build outputs, ensuring traceable and reproducible deployments.
Mechanism
Artifacts carry metadata: version number, commit SHA, build time. Immutable (same version, same content). Artifact repositories (Nexus/Artifactory/ECR) store and index them. Deployments reference artifact versions, not latest.
Use cases
- Build management
- Version traceability
- Deployment