What Is the Lifecycle of DevOps?
DevOps focuses on the relationship between the operation and the development of the software. Here, the engineers and developers have the same objective to deliver a viable product with the same goal in mind: to make the product perfect and suitable for use for all inhabitants. Therefore, for one to understand the whole concept, there is a need to capture the DevOps lifecycle to make the project complete. The complete life cycle of this methodology has seven phases, which must be considered before arriving at the complete package of the software.
These include continuous:
- Development
- Integration
- Testing
- Monitoring
- Feedback
- Deployment
- Operation
With the right implementation of the life cycle of DevOps, one can achieve much and make apps more secure and effective for use. DevOps entails the latest technology and the need to make it summarize the whole concept into reality. It is worth saying that the DevOps concept is dependable and worth the investment since it proves to be more efficient and effective to the largest global enterprises.
Those who are still skeptical or still wonder if DevOps is a reality or another far-fetched tale about Silicon Valley are behind reality themselves. Based on the rapid development and demand in the technology market, nothing is worth the investment more than the DevOps software. Though, there is swift demand in the IT sector where there is a need to update systems daily, depending on the market demand. Due to that, the need to create new versions is inevitable. All are bound to continuity in the system development.
Continuous development
Continuous development is the initial stage of the DevOps lifecycle. Here, the application objectives are aligned to the goals to be achieved by the developers to meet the customer’s demand. At this stage, the application objectives and code requirements are taken into consideration and set by the developers. Once the developers have set the objectives of the project, they can start project development without delay. Code generators and other needed software are initiated and developed at this phase, and these projects have to follow the continuous development approach initiated by the developers to make them viable and suitable in the preceding stages. The existing code is used for continuous feedback in the development of the whole scheme operation.
One should remember that there are no DevOps tools required when making the plan; the code will require several tools for its maintenance, however. Moreover, code can be written in any language as long as they are relevant to the project at hand, where it is maintained using the version control tools. Source code management is the term used by the IT experts for maintaining the codes in the system. In this case, there are various popular tools used by the developers for managing the codes like Mercurial, SVN, JIRA, and CVS are used by the experts. When it comes to continuous development, there is an intense use of Maven, Ant, and Gradle tools. Most developers prefer Gradle for packaging the code into a feasible and executable file, which can be moved to the next phase easily.
Git is a version control tool used in supporting non-linear workflows in the system where it provides data assurance. One has to employ this tool to guarantee quality software suitable for the project. Besides, it ensures that there is a proper communication channel between the developers and the operation team in the project being carried out by the company. It is important to have a clear communication channel where a large project is concerned to make it easier for collaborators to make changes in time, thus modifying the system to suit the situation. Git plays a crucial role in communication among the team, whereby it creates a stable version of the project application where the team can interact and reach a conclusion based on the prevailing factors at hand. Hence, for DevOps to succeed, Git must be incorporated into the system to ensure proper communication channels.
Continuous integration
The process of continuous integration automatically starts after the development stage. It can also be shortened as CI in DevOps in the build pipeline or lifecycle. As we all know, there is a single control tool for both the operation and development team where all the codes are derived for a common purpose. Codes are consolidated into a master code, on which everyone has the liberty to work by themselves.
Under continuous integration, there are other processes involved which make it concrete to its cause. After merging the developer’s codes, the DevOps team is responsible for triggering a build in the system where the codes are compiled to arrive at the concrete software code to be used. It then undergoes a unit test to verify its responsiveness to the project developed. Moreover, there is a server for the control tools used by the system developers during continuous integration where the code check-in is looked into, and as soon as any triggers are found, an automation compilation is issued for security checking. Here, automated testing is carried out by tools such as TestNG, Jenkins, and NUnit for static solar analysis. The fundamental objective behind carrying out continuous integration is to ensure that the developer’s code runs smoothly, and any error detected is corrected in time to avoid inconveniences. The developer can detect and know if they are in the right channel of coding or not with the aid of these control tools.
It will compare the codes of all the developers within the organization and ensure that the codes are within the correct line of action. In a nutshell, we can say that the CI is concerned with the integrity of the code, whether they are within acceptable terms for the project and the basis for its plan test before building the product. It checks if the team members can produce the right code for system integration. After these processes have been verified, the team is in a position to proceed to the next phase of development.
Continuous testing
At this stage, products are verified by the responsible team for their actual usage in a normal environment. The testing process essentially tests how the application will be used and if it meets quality assurance specifications. The testing process gives much information about the different application aspects and how they are integrated into the system before it is sent to the development process. The developer tests for bugs in the system to ensure that it is effective and updated with the latest version. In this case, automation testing tools like TestNG, Selenium, and Junit are used. These tools ensure that there are no flaws in the functionality and that the quality of the code is on point. Though there are chances of non-functionality in the system, these should not be accepted by the developers, thus the need to passcode through the testing process to eliminate such errors.
The testing tools, such as Selenium, are used to automate the system in such a way that it generates reports. The whole testing phase is modified by the developers so that other tools are automated in the system to ensure that no error penetrates during the development of the DevOps lifecycle. If a person has written a Selenium code in Java, one can advance this using Ant or Maven to improve the application code initially used by the developer to build the code. In this case, the automation of the codes ensures that time is saved, and the codes are used effectively towards achieving the set objective of the system. Instead of integrating the codes manually, one ought to automate the codes to fulfill the need for coding and application requirements. Also, the codes can be integrated with the existing codes to make it perfect and desirable for the system to execute the processes needed by the developers. It makes things easier for developers and the operation team when there are existing codes to be modified to fit the needs of the software. Imagine taking a leap of faith to start the whole process again when the project is under a strict timeline, which cannot be achieved without deep knowledge of what is needed. It tends to be hard, but with existing codes, few modifications are required to make it stand out on its own.
This stage is crucial for DevOps development since it entails almost all that is needed to be done during the software’s development. The source code must be changed frequently in the system for it to succeed. However, this may be done every week or daily, depending on the prevailing need at the market. Every commit is built on the system to detect any error which may arise from the codes developed by the programmers for the software. Besides, there is a code review, and not only compilation is done at this level of development. There is also unit testing, packaging, and integration testing, which may be carried out by developers to ensure that the software becomes stable and sustainable for a long time without any problems. All that matters to people is the dependability and efficacy of the system, not how it was coded or integrated to work. The final product is the determinant of the whole system’s sustainability and profitability. What is the need of developing something which cannot stand for itself, or software which lacks flexibility and cannot be modified to fit the current need of the customers? However, with DevOps, the system is verified, tested, and proved to be suitable for final use.
Continuous monitoring
The monitoring phase is an operational process whereby the product information is reviewed for any errors that may arise in the system for sustainability. It involves recording application usage and processing trends on how it functions via a monitoring tool, which ensures that there is little or no error incurred during a coding session. Developer and operation teamwork is reviewed and analyzed to ensure that they are suitable. It is important to monitor the system’s stability and development. Apart from monitoring the way it operates, the team looks into various hazards that the system may be subjected to during its operation time. The system errors, which may present themselves as memory or server unavailabilities are resolved at this phase of development.
Here, the vital information of the system is monitored and recorded by the DevOps tools. By doing so, the developer can determine the cause of any error which may occur before it manifests beyond repair. It serves as a warning to any emerging issues that may recur in software sustainability and stability for future demands. The need to foresee the future makes the creator of the code more insightful to avoid any problems with future modifications of the system. One should not create an unmodifiable system that is rendered obsolete as soon as a new model emerges. To the employees, creating an unsustainable product that cannot reach market demands is not cause for confidence. It is worth protecting the reputation of the company and the self-image more so where technology is concerned.
Critically, there are security issues that need to be protected by the developers lest one loses the whole system to fraudulent people who are out there to hawk it whenever they get a chance to do so. It does not matter the worth of the investment, and all that matters is the safety of the system. DevOps use Splunk to monitor the system and protect it from intruders.
Continuous feedback
This phase is strategically used to improvise the current product in harmony with the prevailing demand in the market. The developers analyze the existing product to improve its usage to adapt to modern demand. Here the customer feedback about the product is taken into consideration, and any complaint is acted upon within the best timeframe possible to eliminate any sluggishness or compiling complaints. This is the biggest asset of the company and should be protected by all means possible. The current working software is updated frequently to ensure that it does not incur many problems and to meet the customer’s needs
Continuous deployment
At this stage, the developers and operation team work together to ensure that the product released has no error. The product is reviewed for maximum accuracy to ensure that changes made in the code do not affect the efficiency of the system, thus ensuring that high traffic to the website is achieved.
Continuous operations
The last phase of the DevOps lifecycle, software is released to the market to execute its duties. It is based on complete automation of the released process to accelerate the overall time to market. Continuity is the critical factor in DevOps. Though it may take more time to identify issues, it is the best version for system modification.