What deployment pattern helps to mitigate risks when introducing a new software version in production?

Canary deployment is a strategy used to mitigate risks when introducing a new software version into production by allowing for gradual testing and validation of the new release. In this approach, the new version of the software is initially rolled out to a small subset of users, known as the "canary," while the majority of users continue to operate on the previous stable version.

This limited exposure allows the development and operations teams to monitor the performance and stability of the new software in a production environment without exposing all users to potential issues that might arise. If any problems are detected during this testing phase, the team has the option to address them before the new version is rolled out to all users. Consequently, canary deployments provide a controlled and reduced-risk mechanism for validating new features or changes, making them particularly valuable for organizations aiming to ensure a smooth transition during software updates.

The other options, such as blue-green deployment, rolling deployment, and revert deployment, each have their own processes and advantages but do not offer the same level of gradual exposure and risk mitigation inherently built into the canary approach.