Pipeline
An ordered series of stages that transforms or checks work before it reaches an output.
Plain English
A chain of steps where each stage passes work to the next.
In context
In software teams pipeline often means automated build, test, and deployment stages; in data teams it can mean ingestion and transformation.
Example
“The release pipeline runs tests before deployment.”
When you'll hear this
- CI CD
- deployment
- data processing
Common misunderstanding
Pipeline alone does not specify whether the stages are automated or what they process.
Commonly used by
Related terms
Updated: 2026-09-22
