DevOps is the most popular choice among software product developers, operations, and security professionals, with 47% saying they use it in a 2021 survey. Let us look at how DevOps works and what features, benefits, and drawbacks it has.

What is DevOps?

The term DevOps was first used in 2009 by one of its developers – IT consultant Patrick Debois. It’s a combination of development and operations. This approach was created to improve collaboration between IT teams and software developers. There was a need because the old methods compartmentalised developers and the IT team that deployed the software.

DevOps is a mindset towards work combined with a set of best practices and tools. Debois and others developed it to improve on the Agile approach. In practice, many developers combine the two product development methodologies. 

How DevOps Works

The DevOPS product life cycle stages are:

Discover, Plan, Build, Test, Launch, Deploy, Operate, and Monitor. 

The steps form an infinite closed loop. The continuous feedback leads to discovering features and issues and, in turn, starts a new planning phase.

DevOps Vs. Agile

The Agile method with the Scrum framework is the second most popular product development approach. A difference between the two approaches is that Agile has frameworks, like Scrum, while DevOps doesn’t have any. 

Practically, Agile is known for its speed and iterative nature. The teams work in short Sprints, making incremental updates to the product features. This speeds up the development process. 

The increased pace does not always translate to quicker delivery to customers, though. One reason for this delay is the disconnect between the development and operational teams, working separately. 

Combining DevOps with Agile solves the disconnection problem. In this hybrid approach, both teams work together and even share responsibilities. For example, the developers don’t just build and forward the product to operations. Instead, they are present throughout the lifecycle of the product. 

DevSecOps

Some organisations widen the scope of DevOps to include the security department. With DevSecOps, security planning, testing and feedback happen continuously during the DevOps lifecycle.

DevOps Best Practises and Tools

Teams often use one or more of these best practices:

Agile

The iterative and lean Agile approach breaks large projects into smaller chunks and uses a framework, like Scrum, to plan, monitor, and measure work.

Shift Left 

Shifting left means doing testing earlier in the development process. This Is done to test the code and fix bugs in a section of the codebase while working on that particular section. 

Continuous Integration (CI) & Continuous Delivery (CD)

The developers continuously integrate the changes into the main branch and continuously deliver to automate releases. The CI and CD best practices allow teams to validate and deliver applications frequently.

Tools

DevOps teams use many different tools, including CI/Cd Pipeline Engines, Code Repositories, Containers, etc.

CI/CD Pipeline Engines

CI tools allow developers to create, test and validate code without manual labour. CD tools allow them to test and configure all releases. GitLab is a popular platform for CI/CD tools.

Code Repositories

Repositories, like GitHub, store multiple versions of the code and allow multiple developers to work on code. 

Containers

Containers like Docker are a virtual sandbox allowing developers to package their code, runtimes, etc., in one location.

Pros and Cons of DevOps

No development method is perfect, and suitability can also vary based on the size and type of the business. Here are some benefits and drawbacks to consider with agile DevOps.

Pros

• Improved information-sharing and expertise among departments
• Faster deployment of products and features
• Adaptability to changes in the market

Cons

• Cost of deploying new tools and training employees
• Susceptible to failure because of a fail-fast ethos

DevOps is a collaborative approach to product development. It is particularly useful for fast-moving startups looking to stay abreast of developments in their industry.