OpsForDevs

devops bootcamp material that I have taught at previous companies

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The Origin and Evolution of DevOps

Life Before DevOps: The “Wall of Confusion”

Before the advent of DevOps, software development and IT operations were often siloed, leading to what was commonly referred to as the “Wall of Confusion” or “Throwing Over the Wall” syndrome:

  1. Separate Teams: Development and Operations teams worked in isolation, often with conflicting goals.
    • Developers focused on rapid feature delivery and change.
    • Operations prioritized stability and resisted frequent changes.
  2. Handover Process: Once developers completed a feature or release, they would “throw it over the wall” to operations for deployment.
    • This often resulted in deployment issues due to differences between development and production environments.
  3. Blame Culture: When problems arose, each team would often blame the other.
    • Developers: “It works on my machine!”
    • Operations: “Your code is breaking our systems!”
  4. Inefficient Communication: The lack of collaboration led to miscommunication and inefficiencies.
    • Operations teams weren’t involved in the development process, leading to applications that were difficult to deploy and maintain.
    • Developers had little insight into operational challenges and production environments.

  5. Slow Release Cycles: The back-and-forth between teams to resolve issues led to prolonged release cycles and delayed time-to-market.

  6. Manual Processes: Many operational tasks were manual, leading to human errors and inconsistencies.

This environment of separation and conflict set the stage for the emergence of DevOps as a solution to bridge the gap between development and operations.

History of DevOps

DevOps emerged around 2007-2009 as a response to the growing frustration with the traditional separation between software development and IT operations teams. Here’s an overview of its history and why it came about:

  1. Origins (2007-2009):
    • The term “DevOps” was coined by Patrick Debois in 2009.
    • In 2007, Patrick Debois and Andrew Shafer began discussing “Agile Infrastructure” at an Agile conference, laying the groundwork for DevOps thinking.
  2. Key Catalysts:
    • The 2009 O’Reilly Velocity Conference featured a talk by John Allspaw and Paul Hammond titled “10+ Deploys per Day: Dev and Ops Cooperation at Flickr,” highlighting the benefits of close collaboration.
    • Patrick Debois organized the first DevOpsDays conference in Ghent, Belgium in 2009, popularizing the term and concept.
  3. Why DevOps Emerged: DevOps arose to address several pain points in the software development and deployment process:
    • Slow deployment cycles
    • Lack of communication between development and operations teams
    • Frequent conflicts between developers and system administrators
    • Inefficient manual processes
    • Difficulty in maintaining system stability while introducing new features

Advantages of DevOps Knowledge for Developers

Understanding operations can be highly advantageous for developers for several reasons:

  1. Better understanding of production environments: Developers with ops knowledge can design applications that are more resilient and performant in real-world conditions.

  2. Improved troubleshooting: Understanding ops helps developers diagnose and fix issues more effectively, reducing downtime and improving overall system reliability.

  3. Streamlined deployment process: Developers who understand ops can create more deployment-friendly code and automate deployment processes, leading to faster and more reliable releases.

  4. Enhanced collaboration: Knowledge of ops fosters better communication and collaboration between development and operations teams, reducing conflicts and improving overall productivity.

  5. Holistic system design: Developers with ops knowledge can design systems that are easier to maintain, scale, and monitor, leading to better long-term system health.

  6. Career growth: DevOps skills are in high demand, and developers with ops knowledge often have more career opportunities and can command higher salaries.

As Martin Fowler notes in his article on DevOps culture:

“The DevOps movement is characterized by people with a multidisciplinary skill set - people who are comfortable with infrastructure and configuration, but also happy to dive into code and fix or extend it when needed.”

This multidisciplinary approach not only makes developers more versatile but also helps create a more efficient and collaborative software development environment.

Further Reading

• Martin Fowler’s Blog on DevOps Culture - Insights on DevOps culture from a renowned software development thought leader.