Adopting DevOps practices opens up a wide range of new possibilities to improve software development from human resources to tools. In this respect, developer skills and automation are some of the key areas.
The Value of Developer Skills and Automation
In a DevOps setting, developers play a crucial role in a number of ways. They help to translate the desired software solution into actual instructions that will executed by a computer.
Developers also help when it comes to the technical side of streamlining work processes. During the course of developing a software product, team members often need other digital tools for various purposes. These usually include communication, reporting and analytics, data storage, and querying and sharing, among many other uses.
Essentially, developers also create or modify tools used in the production of software. Slack which is the popular business communication platform is a good example.
Automation can also be important in a DevOps setting. It helps relieve team members of the more mundane tasks, allowing them to reallocate that time to more creative efforts. Automation also enables organizations to save resources and create value faster when tasks are delegate to computers.
How to Harness Developer Skills in increasing DevOps Success
For many developers who involve themselves in numerous projects leaves them with tremendous experience, building confidence in their skillset. However once an organization takes the DevOps route, there will be multiple ways in which a developer can improve their abilities and realise unprecedented success. Let us layout a few of these developer skills:
Coherent Coding
When working on smaller and straightforward projects alone developer may write their code in a way that works for them. But in a DevOps setting, different disciplines become more intertwined, and you often have more than one person interacting with or weighing in on work product. Additionally, there might be alterations in the flow of various exercises such as testing and gathering feedback.
This creates a greater need for cleaner code that is easier to comprehend, test, and reuse. It helps to have clear boundaries within our work, such as dedicating a single function to a specific goal/action. You should also endeavour to name every piece that needs naming with a title that is related to the subject of that piece of code.
Seeking Assistance
To keep improving as a developer, it is imperative to have sufficient awareness. we should be able to look at what we’re trying to achieve.
In the case of internal help, a developer can make use of advanced document review platforms that combine both source code and document review. By doing so they can benefit from a standardized review and verification process.
Business Orientation
Software development isn’t entirely technical. There are many fast-functioning software products on the market that are stable and secure but lack mass acclaim and sales. A great developer thinks beyond their immediate role within the team and dares to believe that their contribution can impact the commercial success of the project in multiple ways. They can also do a better job at explaining why coding in a certain manner or direction can benefit the business.
Open-mindedness
With DevOps, there can be a mix of methodologies, or even tweaks to a specific method, creating hybrid methodologies. This mentality and its results can manifest in testing schedules, application of particular tools, languages, frameworks, meetings, and collaboration, and many other areas.
Prioritization
A solid developer needs to learn how to absorb large amounts of information and ascertain the top priority.If the adoption of a specific tool or practice isn’t going to produce a significant increase in performance, ignore it. New technologies can be captivating, often making developers try them out abruptly.
How Developer Skills Can Complement Automation
By following the principles above, a DevOps team can end up in a better position to maximize automation. For instance:
- Automation is often more successful with developers who have a wider skill-set and language proficiency. This skillset can also extend to setting up automated creation of environments, and CI/CD capabilities to build pipelines.
- RPA also requires solid process mapping skills. This is where a developer with exceptional focus and persistence in problem-solving flourishes. Such a developer will be able to deconstruct processes and zoom in on the smallest parts to understand the logic behind the operation of the entire unit. A developer can center their attention on tools like process mining software that are relevant to such a task.
Conclusion
At first glance, the relationship between developer skills and automation may not be that obvious. As developers continuously rise to the challenges and opportunities within DevOps, they can naturally gravitate toward automation as a solution in certain cases.
Therefore, to achieve DevOps success, it is important to fully understand the benefits and limitations of automation, while also doing the same for developers. Eventually, you’ll find effective ways to link the two.
