Interview › Scripting (Bash, Groovy)
What is the difference between a declarative and a scripted Jenkins pipeline in Groovy? [Advanced]
Answer
Declarative Pipeline is a structured, opinionated Jenkins syntax inside a pipeline { } block. Scripted Pipeline is more free-form Groovy using node { } and direct control flow. Declarative is easier to standardize; scripted is more flexible for complex logic.
Technical explanation
Declarative has sections such as agent, environment, stages, steps, post, options, and when.
Scripted Pipeline allows arbitrary Groovy control flow but can become harder to read and govern.
In enterprise CI, I normally use Declarative for consistency and shared libraries for reusable complex behavior.
Hands-on example
// Declarative
pipeline { agent any; stages { stage('Test') { steps { sh 'make test' } } } }
// Scripted
node {
stage('Test') {
sh 'make test'
}
}
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