What is DevOps? A Simple Guide

What is DevOps? A Simple Guide

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DevOps is an umbrella term that describes the integration of software development and IT operations to create a continuous delivery pipeline.

It has been described as “a marriage of software development and operations,” which means it encompasses how you build software, run your IT infrastructure and deploy new code.

Continuous integration (CI) automates the testing of source code before it is integrated into a main build.

This makes it possible to catch bugs immediately instead of waiting for CI to finish after every commit or two.

However, Continuous Integration (CI) can also be used to test whether changes in code break production environments
when they are pushed from VMs or servers into production.

This task is known as Continuous Delivery,
which is where DevOps really starts taking off.

What is Continuous Delivery?

Continuous Delivery is the practice of deploying code as often as possible.

This means that the code is deployed to a test environment (such as a staging environment) where it is tested
and then the code is deployed to a production environment.

There it goes, tested again and then deployed if it is fit to be released to the end users.

This concept is also known as “continuous deployment,” which is usually a term that is only used
for the release process.

In fact, there is quite a bit of confusion about the terms “continuous delivery” and “continuous deployment.

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Continuous delivery is about releasing code as often as possible.

That’s why it’s also sometimes called “continuous deployment.

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Continuous delivery is about releasing code as often as possible.

Continuous deployment is about releasing code as often as possible, but it’s also about releasing code
as often as possible while taking into account regulatory compliance,
security and other aspects that are specific to regulated industries.

What is Continuous Deployment?

Continuous Deployment is a continuous process of deploying code.

That means that it is a continuous process of seemingly taking code from development to
production and testing it to see whether it works.

Code is deployed continuously to an automated environment that is called Continuous Integration (CI).

That’s how code is tested before being deployed to production.

Continuous Deployment is when the deployment process is automated.

That is, developers do not need to manually manage their code that is deployed to different environments.

What is done is that code is pushed from a CI server to an automated environment that is called a Continuous Deployment environment.

Automated Testing in Continuous Integration

When engineers integrate code into a build, it means that they are copying the code from the source control repository to a build server.

They then run automated tests on the code to see whether it works and to catch any bugs.

When code is integrated into a build, it is first tested for basic functionality before being deployed to a test environment.

If the code works there, engineers then deploy it to a specific environment.

If unexpected issues are found, they can easily fix the code instead of deploying it to a production environment.

Justification for Automated Testing in CI and CD

While CI provides an automated environment for testing code, it does not automatically run unit tests and functional tests.

That is because engineers don’t run them often, so CI is not useful for validating software.

However, when code is deployed to production, it has to work as expected.

Tooling for CD

CI is the process of building and testing code.

There are several CI tools that are used for this process.

Some of the popular tools in CI include Jenkins, GitLab CI, Hudson, and Bamboo.

Continuous Delivery is the practice of delivering code to production as often as possible.

This can be done through various tools, such as code repositories, source control systems,
and Continuous Delivery servers with APIs for programmable logic.

For example, there is a tool for controlling the state of an application.

It can be set up to check certain conditions.

If those conditions are not satisfied,
the tool can trigger an action.

How to Achieve CD with DevOps

DevOps is the practice of putting the tools and processes of the development team into the hands of the operations team.

This means that instead of having engineers managing the infrastructure, they let the DevOps team manage it.

This is a new way of working, and it requires a fundamental transformation in how teams collaborate with each other.

Most organizations need to undergo this transformation to create this collegial culture change.

DevOps teams are responsible for automating the delivery process and integrating the development
and operations teams.

After that, the only thing that remains is continuous monitoring and giving alerts when something goes wrong.

Why You Need a Culture change in your organization?

A culture change is not a one-time event.

It is a continuous effort that must be supported by top management and implemented by a disciplined team.

When everyone is on board and people understand the importance of a culture change,
it can lead to significant results.

When teams realize how important it is to adopt a culture change,
they will do whatever it takes to become more DevOps-oriented.

DevOps culture change is the responsibility of every employee.

It cannot be limited to a few employees within an organization who are
responsible for the transformation.

Conclusion

DevOps is an approach to building, testing and releasing software that integrates the
development and operations teams.

It is an approach to improve agility, speed up delivery time and eliminate risks.

DevOps is about integrating the engineering and operations teams for faster delivery and to eliminate risks.

It is about continually delivering value to customers.

DevOps is about combining the practices of software engineering and operations to create a continuous
process of delivering value to customers.

It is about creating an environment that allows for quick adaptation to change and
an ability to deliver value with minimal risk.

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