Artifact
In plain terms
A packaged output of a build, ready to deploy or share.
Going deeper
An artifact is the compiled, packaged result of a build (a binary, container image, or library) that downstream stages consume. It's the deliverable of CI.
Under the hood
Versioned and stored in registries for traceability; immutable artifacts ensure consistent deployments.
Examples
JAR/WAR files, Docker images, npm packages, build outputs, releases.
Think of it like...
Like the finished, boxed product coming off the assembly line.