Modern CI Systems Are Too Complex: Time to Merge Build and CI Systems?

This article explores the complexity of modern continuous integration (CI) platforms. The author argues that current CI systems, such as GitHub Actions and GitLab CI, are overly powerful and have evolved into complex build systems, leading to fragmented build and CI system logic and low efficiency. The author proposes integrating CI functionality into build systems and uses Mozilla's Taskcluster as an example to illustrate a more powerful, task graph-based CI platform design. This design can unify build and CI processes, improve efficiency, and reduce complexity. However, the author also points out that this merger requires more advanced build systems and broader industry adoption, which may be difficult to achieve in the short term.