Devops Theory

Dheeren GaudDheeren Gaud
3 min read

This page includes all the theory related to DevOps.

  • Goals of DevOps

  • DevOps Lifecycle

  • CI (Continuous Integration)

  • CD (Continuous Deployment)

  • Evolution of DevOps

  • What the top companies are doing now


DevOps is a combination of software development (dev) and operations (ops). It is defined as a software engineering methodology which aims to integrate the work of development teams and operations teams by facilitating a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility.

What is the goal of DevOps?

DevOps represents a change in mindset for IT culture. In building on top of Agile practices, DevOps focuses on incremental development and rapid delivery of software. Success relies on the ability to create a culture of accountability, improved collaboration, empathy, and joint responsibility for business outcomes.


The DevOps lifecycle and how DevOps works

The DevOps lifecyle stretches from the beginning of software development through to delivery, maintenance, and security. The stages of the DevOps lifecycle are:

Plan: Organize the work that needs to be done, prioritize it, and track its completion.

Create: Write, design, develop and securely manage code and project data with your team.

Verify: Ensure that your code works correctly and adheres to your quality standards — ideally with automated testing.

Package: Package your applications and dependencies, manage containers, and build artifacts.

Secure: Check for vulnerabilities through static and dynamic tests, fuzz testing, and dependency scanning.

Release: Deploy the software to end users.

Configure: Manage and configure the infrastructure required to support your applications.

Monitor: Track performance metrics and errors to help reduce the severity and frequency of incidents.

Govern: Manage security vulnerabilities, policies, and compliance across your organization.


CI

The "CI" in CI/CD always refers to continuous integration, an automation process for developers that facilitates more frequent merging of code changes back to a shared branch, or “trunk.” As these updates are made, automated testing steps are triggered to ensure the reliability of merged code changes.

CD

The final stage of a mature CI/CD pipeline is continuous deployment. Continuous deployment is an extension of continuous delivery, and can refer to automating the release of a developer’s changes from the repository to production, where it is usable by customers.


Evolution of DevOps

  • Before DevOps:
    Development and operations were siloed. Developers focused on speed; operations prioritized stability. This caused miscommunication, delays, and blame.

  • The Shift Begins (2007–2009):
    Patrick Debois and others launched the DevOps movement to bridge the gap. The first DevOpsDays conference in 2009 sparked global interest.

  • Why DevOps Took Off:

    • Faster and more reliable deployments

    • Shorter time-to-market

    • Better collaboration and fewer errors

  • DevOps Culture Today:
    A mindset that blends automation, collaboration, and continuous improvement across teams.

  • Key Practices & Technologies:

    • Automation across the pipeline

    • Cloud computing for scalability

    • Containerization (Docker/Kubernetes)

    • Microservices for modular apps

    • CI/CD for continuous delivery and testing

    • Monitoring & feedback for rapid fixes

  • Modern DevOps Roles:
    DevOps engineers manage complex systems, use toolchains, and ensure reliable, scalable delivery.


What the top companies are doing now

  • DevSecOps: Security is built into every stage (Google, Microsoft, Amazon).

  • Platform Engineering: Internal tools let developers deploy independently (Spotify, GitHub).

  • AI in DevOps: Predictive monitoring, auto-remediation, and code insights (Meta, IBM).

  • GitOps & IaC: Infrastructure managed via Git (Red Hat, Shopify).

  • Microservices & Serverless: Scalable, fast systems with Kubernetes, AWS Lambda (Netflix, Uber).

  • Chaos Engineering: Test system failures proactively (Netflix, LinkedIn).

  • Cloud-Native: Everything runs on Kubernetes with multi-cloud setups (IBM, VMware).

  • DevEx Focus: Improving developer experience for faster delivery (Shopify, Stripe).

CategoryTools
CI/CDGitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, ArgoCD
MonitoringPrometheus, Grafana, Datadog, Dynatrace
ContainersDocker, Kubernetes, Helm
IaCTerraform, Pulumi
ServerlessAWS Lambda, Azure Functions
AutomationAnsible, Jenkins, Spinnaker

Reference

https://devops.com/the-evolution-of-devops/

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Written by

Dheeren Gaud
Dheeren Gaud

Hi, I'm Dheeren — currently pursuing my Bachelor's degree in Information Technology from Father Agnel College (FCRIT). I have a deep interest in web development, especially in the MERN stack, and have worked on several projects including MY-docs, Predictive Maintenance systems, a WhatsApp clone, and custom chatbot applications. Over time, I’ve developed strong skills in Java, data structures, and algorithms, and I’m always excited to solve complex problems through technology. Recently, I’ve become very interested in DevOps and am actively learning tools and technologies like Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud platforms to enhance my development and deployment workflows. I’ve also participated in national-level hackathons such as SIH, Terna, Kongsberg Maritime, and NIT Jalandhar, and was fortunate to achieve recognition in some of them. These experiences have helped shape my collaborative, problem-solving, and quick-learning mindset. Always open to learning, collaborating, and building impactful solutions!