Jenkins in 2023: Still Alive and Flowing

Jenkins has been around for over a decade, and some might think that it's an outdated tool that's no longer relevant in today's fast-paced DevOps landscape. However, those people would be wrong. In 2023, Jenkins is still alive and flowing, and here's why.

1. Jenkins is Open Source: Jenkins is open-source software, which means that it's constantly evolving thanks to a community of developers who are passionate about the tool. This also means that Jenkins is free to use and can be customized to fit the needs of any organization, regardless of size or industry.
2. Jenkins is Highly Customizable: Jenkins can be customized to fit the needs of any organization thanks to its large ecosystem of plugins. There are over 1,500 plugins available for Jenkins, which means that there's a plugin for just about anything you might need to do in your CI/CD pipeline.
3. Jenkins is Battle-Tested: Jenkins has been around for over a decade and has been used by countless organizations in a variety of industries. This means that it's been battle-tested and has stood the test of time. Organizations can trust Jenkins to handle their CI/CD needs reliably and efficiently.
4. Jenkins is Compatible with Everything: Jenkins can integrate with just about every tool and technology in the DevOps ecosystem. This means that it can be used as a central hub for all of your DevOps processes, providing a single source of truth for your CI/CD pipeline.
5. Jenkins is On Premises: There aren't many on premises options honestly and so you will see a lot of companies with Jenkins for this reason, I still continue to see Jenkins at companies.  By using Jenkins as Code and Terraform you can however setup an entire as code infrastructure for Jenkins and making it super easy to manage.
6. Jenkins is Still Widely Used: Despite its age, Jenkins is still a widely used tool in the DevOps landscape. According to the 2022 State of DevOps Report by Puppet, Jenkins is the most popular CI/CD tool, used by 62% of organizations surveyed. This means that if you're a DevOps engineer, knowing Jenkins is still essential to your skillset.
7. Jenkins is Essential for Legacy Systems: Even if an organization is using newer CI/CD tools, Jenkins is still essential for legacy systems that may not be able to integrate with newer tools. Jenkins can act as a bridge between legacy systems and modern CI/CD pipelines, allowing organizations to modernize their processes without abandoning their legacy systems.
8. Jenkins Has Its Critics: Despite its continued popularity, Jenkins is not without its critics. Some argue that the tool has become bloated and unwieldy, with too many plugins and options that can make it difficult to use. Others argue that newer CI/CD tools, like GitLab CI/CD and CircleCI, are more modern and user-friendly than Jenkins.

In conclusion, Jenkins is still alive and flowing in 2023, but it's not without its critics. While its open-source nature, highly customizable ecosystem of plugins, battle-tested reliability, and compatibility with everything in the DevOps landscape make it a trusted tool for many organizations, some argue that newer CI/CD tools may be more user-friendly and better suited for modern DevOps processes. It's important to evaluate all options and choose the best tool for your organization's specific needs.

If you're a DevOps engineer, it's essential to have Jenkins in your skillset just from the amount of companies still using it.

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