Overview 

This Tech blog is for new graduates, those planning to start careers as DevOps engineers.

In this blog, you can find answers to six questions like:

1) What is DevOps?

2) Can anyone become a DevOps engineer?

3) What tools should I learn to start my career as a DevOps engineer?

4) Do I need to learn coding?

5) How important is Python in DevOps?

6) What’s the future in DevOps?  

What is DevOps? 

Well as most of you know in simple terms DevOps is nothing more than a Development team and operations team working collaboratively to achieve high standards, increase an organization’s ability to deliver applications and services at high velocity. The goal of DevOps is to change and improve relationships by creating better communication and collaboration between Development and Operations business units. 

How DevOps Works? 

Under a DevOps model, development and operations teams are no longer “siloed.” Sometimes, these two teams are merged into a single team where the engineers work across the entire application lifecycle, from development and test to deployment to operations, and develop a range of skills not limited to single functions. 

In some DevOps models, quality assurance and security teams may also become more tightly integrated with development and operations and throughout the application lifecycle. When security is the focus of everyone on a DevOps team, this is sometimes referred to as DevSecOps. 

These teams use practices to automate processes that historically have been manual and slow. They use a technology stack and tooling which help them operate and evolve applications quickly and reliably. These tools also help engineers independently accomplish tasks (for example, deploying code or provisioning infrastructure) that normally would have required help from other teams, and this further increases a team’s velocity. 

Can a fresher become a DevOps engineer? 

Yes, as a fresher you can start your career as DevOps engineer, but hard work and continuous learning is the key to get a job and grow your career. I am a recent graduate and secured a job as Associate DevOps engineer. I want to be an example to all others out there who are thinking it is impossible to get into DevOps as a fresher. As a DevOps engineer you must have certain skills like Quick learning, Communication and Collaboration, Proactiveness, Flexibility and Adaptability.  

Does your background matter in DevOps? 

Well, if you have right potential and talent, then qualification and background does not matter. But Separate Yourself from The Crowd. Yes, you heard it right. It is recommended to have at least bachelor’s degree in computers or similar, to set yourself out from the pool of applications. 

DevOps Tools to learn as a beginner

Before getting into DevOps tools let’s learn about Stages involved in DevOps (Lifecycle). 

1. Plan
2. Build
3. Test
4. Deploy
5. Monitor

There are number of tools available in the market for DevOps practices. You can refer to DevOps periodic table below which contains all the available tools and software’s according to the life cycle. 

The Periodic Table of DevOps Tools (V4.2)

Major tools mostly used by companies are: 

1. Linux (preferred) / PowerShell 
2. Bash/Shell Scripting 
3. CLI 
4. Git 
5. Docker 
6. Jenkins 
7. Terraform 
8. Aws/ Azure cloud 
9. Kubernetes (Basic knowledge) 
10. Python (For scripting) 

Do I need to learn coding? 

Well, having knowledge on programming is an added benefit. As a DevOps engineer you are responsible for creating environments and resources. Sometimes you need to read the code and fix small bugs, be able to communicate with the developers regarding the errors. DevOps engineer is a pain reliever for the development team, he/she must understand what challenges a programmer face when developing the software. Since programming is 90% reading the code, the DevOps engineer should be able to figure out if the code will have a chance in production environment. 

Also, automation is a huge part of DevOps, so one should be comfortable with python, although it would be nice to write bash, PowerShell, groovy. So DevOps without programming skills might be able to generate ideas but will fail when implementing them. 

How important is python in DevOps? 

Python is one of the primary technologies used by teams practicing DevOps. Its flexibility and accessibility make Python a great fit for this job, enabling the whole team to build web applications, and data visualizations, and to improve their workflow with custom utilities. 

Companies rarely hire people who are experts in a particular technology because the DevOps industry evolves rapidly. It is far more vital to be able to swiftly pick up new languages and technologies in this sector to be successful. On the other hand, Python is an excellent place to start if you are completely new to the area. 

While Python is widely used and many DevOps tools are built on it, there are many more options. Not all organizations use Python. Now, while that is improbable, you will certainly run across Python code that you will need to correct or modify at some point. 

Future of DevOps? 

DevOps has a great and promising future, the practical applications of DevOps are increasing day by day.  

Technology is transforming every aspect of industry, and digitalization and automation have flourished in the past few years. DevOps has established itself as an indispensable software development methodology for successful digital transformation. 

According to a recent market survey, the DevOps market will exceed $20 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 24.7% from 2019 to 2026. DevOps has facilitated rapid and dependable software development, delivery, improved quality, and higher customer satisfaction.

Many large enterprises are integrating and automating security into DevOps processes. The transformation from DevOps to DevSecOps is expected to gain even more momentum in the future. According to a forecast, the DevOps market size is expected to reach $5.9 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 31.2% during the forecast period. 

More companies will embed security controls earlier in the software development cycle to ensure application security. Tools and frameworks will simply integrate with CI/CD pipelines and testing tools will see a rise in 2022. DevSecOps empowers developers to consistently track, monitor and remediate security defects during the various stages of development while improving the speed of delivery and quality.