DevOps was born out of a need for a more efficient software development process. Many software companies now use this process to optimize workflow between their development and operations teams. Since the concept was conceived by Patrick Debois in 2009, DevOps best practices have become much more refined.
Companies that employ DevOps engineers to achieve a better workflow between both teams involved in the software development process benefit from a more efficient use of resources, improved customer satisfaction and increased profits. Keep reading to learn how to boost your team’s workflow.
What Is DevOps?
The purpose of DevOps is to integrate and automate the processes, personnel, and tools associated with the lifecycle of software applications. DevOps covers all stages from design to deployment with the end goal of creating a product that satisfies the needs of the client.
Adopting DevOps helps a company’s development and operations teams improve communication so they can better manage the project they’re working on. This process creates a culture that thrives on high quality final products created over a shortened development lifespan.
12 Concepts You Need to Understand for DevOps Best Practices
To implement DevOps for your next software development project, you need to know DevOps best practices. To understand them, you first need to get acquainted with these DevOps concepts and terms.
- Agile software development. Agile is a set of software development guidelines meant to encourage cross-functional teams who are ready to adapt to changes throughout the software development process. Some Agile frameworks include Scrum, lean software development, and adaptive software development.
- Continuous integration. Continuous integration is the process of regularly integrating the coding that developers have created for a given project throughout the day. That way, the final project is being consistently updated and tested.
- Continuous development. Continuous development is a broad term in DevOps that covers continuous integration, continuous testing, continuous delivery, and continuous deployment.
- Infrastructure as code. Infrastructure as code is the method of virtually storing and managing infrastructure, including databases, servers, and networks using configuration code files.
- Application release automation. Application release automation is the process of packaging and deploying an application from development to production.
- DevOps engineer. A DevOps engineer integrates the efforts of the development teams and the operations teams to release an application efficiently, while keeping optimized user experience in mind.
- Scrum. Scrum is a software development framework that facilitates collaboration between small, cross-functional teams to develop complex products in sprints.
- Continuous testing. Continuous testing is the process of automating tests on program files at different stages of project development so that issues can be quickly resolved. This serves to speed up the delivery process.
- Regression testing. Regression testing is carried out in response to code changes to ensure that the adjustments made to a source code do not disrupt the function of the software product.
- DevSecOps. DevSecOps is an abbreviation of development, security, and operations. It involves automating the integration of security policies at various stages of the software development cycle. This ensures that potential security threats are resolved before the product gets to the deployment stage.
- Microservices. Microservices refers to disintegrating a software application into smaller products or services so that the development team can improve individual features, speed up the product’s launch, and make sure the product is scalable.
- Version control. Version control or source control is the practice of keeping records of the adjustments and changes made to a source code to facilitate code review.
5 Common Challenges that DevOps Guidelines Can Address
If you’re a beginner in DevOps project management, you’ll definitely encounter some challenges. However, following DevOps best practices will minimize errors in your development process. Below are some of the common challenges you may encounter.
Multiple Development Stages
Creating a software application using DevOps requires multiple stages and teams. These stages are set up to hasten the development process and lead to a higher quality final product. However, as the app goes through this process its chances of acquiring bugs can be hard to deal with for an inexperienced team.
Moving from Manual Testing to Test Automation
Test automation requires a lot more programming experience than manual testing and might be challenging for DevOps beginners, especially considering how fast-paced a DevOps production cycle moves. The solution is to acquire the proper DevOps training for this type of testing before making the switch.
Switching from Monolith to Microservices
With monolith architecture, all aspects of a code must be completed in a single program. However, with microservices, you can split the functionalities of a code into different units and develop them separately but connected. The challenge here is to make sure not to duplicate functions.
Managing Release Cycles
One difficult part of adopting a DevOps system is the short development cycle. You have to continuously develop, test, deploy, and launch the software. Each adjustment made to the application must then pass through the software release cycle, which can be a challenge if you don’t have an experienced project manager on your team.
Software Application Integration
Integration is a good way to save money and boost your team’s effectiveness, but if the team is inexperienced in microservices, integrating your project might prove to be a challenge.
Top 10 DevOps Best Practices and Guidelines
Adopting DevOps best practices will boost your team’s productivity levels and reduce waste of resources and make your company stronger. The guidelines below will help you make the most of DevOps.
Establish a clear and defined DevOps workflow
DevOps is completely reliant on teamwork. If there is no collaboration between the cross-functional teams, the whole system will fail. To prevent that, create a clear DevOps workflow where each goal is clear and each team understands its tasks.
Coding and revisions must be done transparently so that each code contributor is aware of all developments. Each project must stick to a defined timeline, and for software releases to happen on time, there must also be quick decision-making.
Implement continuous integration and deployment
Continuous integration and deployment are key to DevOps success. Continuous integration makes it easy to manage changes made to a program’s code because the software is constantly updated.
Continuous integration and continuous deployment increase code quality because the new code will be tested for errors before it is integrated and deployed. This leads to shorter product release cycles. Then, once the product is made available to the consumer, customer satisfaction can be measured.
Adopt a customer-centric approach
The whole purpose of DevOps is to reduce inefficiencies in software development and focus on providing a high-quality final product that will benefit the customer.
A customer-centric approach includes shortening the product’s life cycle so that upgrades can be quickly introduced and ensuring that the interface is easy to navigate. You can easily achieve this by implementing continuous monitoring, test automation, and Agile project management.
Adopt Agile project management
Agile project management ensures that the software development process is broken down into smaller successive units and that each unit is tackled by a collaborative team. This approach ensures that the development strategy can be adjusted based on the results of each stage.
Agile is built on a continuous monitoring and continuous release system. This method ensures transparency and collaboration among the project contributors.
Use the right DevOps tools
Each stage of product development requires distinct tools to ensure that goals are being met. To manage your software code changes, you will need to use a version control system. To track bugs and errors in your source code, you should use bug tracking software. At intervals, you will also need to review the code quality and security using a code review tool.
To ensure you aren’t wasting resources, choose cost-effective and easy-to-use tools. You should also choose tools that work in all production environments and can perform more than one function.
Adopt test automation
As your organization’s production capacity increases, manual testing will no longer be possible. You will need to use an automated testing system to ensure your product deliveries are bug-free.
The advantages of test automation are numerous. For one, you’ll be saving money in the long run as you’ll minimize product failure and ensure a faster release process. You’ll also enjoy a more reliable feedback system. When it’s time for a product upgrade, you can easily base a new software model on the existing source code.
Continuously monitor application performance
DevOps is known for producing quality software thanks to continuous monitoring. Continuous monitoring entails automatic code reviews and unit tests to determine the quality and efficiency of codes before they are deployed.
Continuously monitoring product performance benefits everyone involved. Code writers won’t need to spend lots of time trying to reverse issues discovered at a later stage, as they will be able to resolve issues immediately.
Use microservices
By utilizing microservices, you will improve the quality and scalability of the software. Each service product can easily be reviewed and upgraded without disrupting other microservice products within the software.
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Using microservices also ensures that each team has the freedom to choose the programming language that best suits the needs of their project without worrying about integration.
Review security of software applications
DevSecOps ensures that security policies are being implemented at each stage of production. This makes it easy to comply with security laws and resolve security conflicts before they escalate and become costly issues. By automating security measures, you improve the chances of market success for your product.
Continuously reviewing the security of the app you’re developing will eliminate cyber security threats. Possible security threats you may encounter include hackers reconfiguring infrastructure code or accessing data from open-source project management platforms.
Implement configuration management
Configuration management involves maintaining a company’s computer infrastructure and software development process.
By adopting infrastructure as code, you can store and manage your infrastructure in the cloud and take advantage of improved system performance and seamless system upgrades. If you don’t use configuration management, your production capacity will be reduced.
How to Learn DevOps Best Practices
You should take advantage of resources like online courses, articles, and corporate training to learn how to properly implement these practices.
Can a Bootcamp Help You Learn DevOps Best Practices?
There are plenty of DevOps bootcamps that can help you to learn the system’s best practices and guidelines. You’ll learn how to use the various DevOps tools and will get to apply them to your own software projects.
These bootcamps will expose you to a wide range of training resources. They also provide financial aid and career resources that will help you find a job once your program is over.
Best Courses and Training Programs to Learn DevOps Best Practices
| Provider | Course | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Edureka | DevOps Certification Training Course | $499 |
| The Linux Foundation, edX | Introduction to DevOps: Practices and Tools | $465 |
| Simplilearn | Post Graduate Program in DevOps | $4,500 |
| Udacity | Cloud DevOps Using Microsoft Azure | $1,017 |
| Udemy | Modern DevOps in Practice | $85 |
Should You Learn DevOps Best Practices?
Yes, you should, because top tech employers are looking for professionals with knowledge of DevOps practices to improve workflow. If you want to expand your software development skillset, you should learn the DevOps best practices.
This can increase your salary and your career prospects, as well. Currently, DevOps engineers earn an average salary of $97,026, according to PayScale.
DevOps Best Practices and Guidelines FAQ
The goal of DevOps is to optimize the software production process by ensuring that the project quickly goes from an idea to a valuable end-product. The process ensures a high-quality product over a short product life cycle.
The principles of DevOps define the pathway for a successful project. These principles include collaboration, shared responsibility, release cycle management, a customer-focused approach, automation, continuous integration, continuous delivery and deployment, continuous monitoring and testing, and receiving feedback.
A DevOps life cycle refers to the production processes starting from the development stage and ending at deployment. The stages in the middle are the coding stage, automated build stage, automated testing stage, automated release stage, continuous deployment stage, product use stage, continuous monitoring stage, feedback, and the planning stage.
DevOps best practices are the key to using DevOps successfully. You must create cross-functional teams that understand how to communicate and share responsibilities. It’s also important to use the right DevOps tools and acquire the right DevOps training.
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