March 29, 2024
Updated March 31, 2025
15 minute read
A Guide to Becoming a DevOps Engineer
DevOps Engineers play a crucial role in modern software development. They bridge the gap between software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops), aiming to shorten the software development life cycle while delivering high-quality software reliably and efficiently. By integrating development, testing, deployment, and operations, DevOps practices help organizations release software faster, improve collaboration, and increase overall system stability.
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Find a path to becoming a DevOps Engineer. Learn more at:
OpenCourser.com/career/doce2w/devops
Reading list
We've selected some books
that we think will supplement your
learning. Use these to
develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a
deeper understanding of the topics covered in
DevOps Engineer.
Presents the results of a four-year study of high-performing technology organizations. It identifies the key factors that drive success, and it provides a roadmap for organizations that want to improve their performance.
Provides a comprehensive overview of building serverless applications specifically on the AWS platform. It covers key AWS services like Lambda, API Gateway, and Kinesis, offering practical insights and real-world use cases. It's valuable for understanding the practical application of serverless principles within a major cloud ecosystem and is suitable for those looking to implement serverless solutions on AWS.
Offers a comprehensive introduction to the field of Business Process Management (BPM), which is fundamental to understanding workflows. It covers key concepts, methods, and technologies for process analysis, design, implementation, and monitoring. It is widely used as a textbook in academic settings and provides a solid foundation for anyone looking to gain a broad understanding of workflows in a business context.
A recent publication focusing on leveraging AWS Lambda for building scalable and cost-effective serverless solutions. It covers basics to advanced deployment, including event-driven design, hyper-scaling, and operational techniques. is highly relevant for those specifically focused on AWS Lambda and seeking to deepen their expertise.
Is the definitive guide to Git, a widely used version control system that is fundamental to many development workflows. It covers everything from the basics to advanced topics, including different branching workflows. Understanding Git workflows is crucial for anyone involved in software development and collaborative projects.
Microservice architecture has become increasingly popular, and this book provides insightful patterns for implementing it effectively.
Comprehensive guide to concurrency in Java 8. It covers everything from the basics of thread safety to advanced topics like lock-free programming and reactive programming. It great resource for developers who want to learn how to write concurrent code effectively.
A practical guide to understanding and modeling business processes. provides proven techniques for identifying, modeling, and redesigning workflows for improvement. It valuable reference for professionals involved in process analysis and system development, offering a methodical approach that goes beyond theoretical concepts.
Offers a vendor-agnostic view of serverless computing, covering AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, and open-source options. It provides a broad understanding of the serverless landscape and helps in selecting appropriate technologies. It's a good resource for gaining a wider perspective beyond a single cloud provider.
This handbook provides a step-by-step guide to implementing DevOps in your organization. It covers all aspects of DevOps, from planning to implementation to measurement, and it valuable resource for anyone looking to get started with DevOps.
Provides a practical guide to Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), a standard for modeling business processes and workflows. It's essential for anyone involved in designing and documenting workflows using a standardized approach.
If you desire something that introduces web services and service-oriented architecture, this would be a good choice.
While not solely focused on workflows, this book is essential for understanding the underlying principles of building robust data pipelines and systems, which are critical components of many modern workflows, particularly in data science and engineering. It delves into the challenges of data processing and storage, offering valuable insights for designing efficient and reliable data workflows.
This handbook focuses on best practices and real-world applications of serverless architecture, particularly using the AWS Well-Architected Framework's Serverless Lens. It's designed for technology leaders and architects, offering insights into operational excellence, security, reliability, performance, cost optimization, and sustainability in a serverless context.
Focuses on using Apache Airflow, a platform for orchestrating complex data pipelines. It's highly relevant for those working with data workflows that require scheduling, monitoring, and managing dependencies between tasks.
Building on the understanding of Git, this book specifically addresses creating efficient workflows for teams using Git. It focuses on the collaborative aspects of version control and how to optimize team workflows.
Explores the combination of RPA with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to achieve 'intelligent automation' of workflows. It provides a contemporary perspective on the evolution of workflow automation and the role of AI.
Provides a collection of case studies from organizations that have successfully implemented DevOps. It covers a wide range of industries and organizational sizes, and it provides valuable insights into the challenges and rewards of DevOps.
Provides a guide to Robotic Process Automation (RPA), a contemporary approach to automating repetitive workflows typically performed by humans. It's relevant for understanding how technology is used to streamline operational workflows.
While not solely focused on serverless, this book foundational text for understanding microservices architecture, which is highly relevant to serverless computing. It covers design, testing, deployment, and operational concerns of microservices. It is essential background reading for anyone designing complex serverless systems and is widely regarded as a key resource in the field.
A business novel that introduces the Theory of Constraints, a methodology for identifying and managing bottlenecks in any process. While set in a manufacturing environment, its lessons on optimizing flow and continuous improvement are highly applicable to understanding and improving workflows in any domain. is considered a classic in operations management and process improvement.
Provides a comprehensive guide to deployment automation, a key part of the DevOps process. It covers the tools, techniques, and best practices for automating deployments, and it valuable resource for anyone looking to improve their deployment process.
This foundational book on lean principles explains how to identify and eliminate waste in any business process, thereby improving workflows. It introduces the core concepts of lean, which are widely applicable to workflow optimization.
For developers moving to the next level with web services, this high fit for RESTful web services and APIs.
If your interest includes the use of BizTalk server, this valuable source of information.
For those interested in data-related workflows, this book provides a practical guide to building data pipelines using Python. It covers essential concepts and techniques for automating data workflows in a programming context.
Focuses on workflows within the context of Digital Asset Management (DAM). It covers the process of organizing, managing, and distributing digital assets, which involves specific types of workflows. It's relevant for those interested in media and content workflows.
Emphasizes the importance of creating systems and processes (workflows) for a business to be successful and scalable. It argues that documenting and standardizing operations is crucial for growth and moving beyond relying solely on the owner.
An in-depth guide to Digital Asset Management, with a strong emphasis on workflows for managing digital media collections. It covers the entire lifecycle of digital assets and the processes involved.
Provides a guide to continuous delivery on AWS. It covers the tools, techniques, and best practices for deploying and scaling AWS applications.
Provides a guide to site reliability engineering (SRE), a set of practices that helps organizations build and operate reliable systems. SRE key part of DevOps, and this book provides a valuable introduction to the field.
Classic guide to writing effective Java code. It covers a wide range of topics, including object-oriented design, concurrency, and performance. While it does not cover Java 8 specifically, it valuable resource for any Java developer.
Practical guide to using Java 8 features in real-world applications. It covers a wide range of topics, including lambdas, streams, and functional programming. It great resource for developers who want to learn how to use Java 8 effectively.
Practical guide to tuning Java applications for performance. It covers a wide range of topics, including profiling, garbage collection, and memory management. It great resource for developers who want to learn how to make their Java applications run faster.
Comprehensive guide to network programming and distributed computing in Java. It covers a wide range of topics, including sockets, networking protocols, and remote method invocation. It great resource for developers who want to learn how to write Java applications that can communicate over networks.
Comprehensive guide to persistence with Hibernate in Java. It covers a wide range of topics, including object-relational mapping, caching, and transactions. It great resource for developers who want to learn how to use Hibernate to manage data in their Java applications.
Comprehensive guide to the Java programming language. It covers a wide range of topics, including the basics of the language, object-oriented programming, and advanced topics like concurrency and functional programming. It great resource for developers who want to learn more about the Java programming language.
Classic guide to writing clean code. It covers a wide range of topics, including naming conventions, code organization, and testing. While it does not cover Java 8 specifically, it valuable resource for any Java developer.
Comprehensive guide to building cloud-native Java applications. It covers a wide range of topics, including microservices, containers, and serverless computing. While it does not cover Java 8 specifically, it valuable resource for any Java developer who wants to learn how to build cloud-native applications.
An example-driven tutorial focusing on building event-driven serverless applications using AWS Lambda. It covers fundamental concepts, common patterns, and building larger applications by combining smaller examples. While published in 2016, it remains a useful resource for understanding the core mechanics of AWS Lambda and event-driven design, particularly for those new to the service.
Serverless architectures often leverage event-driven patterns. provides a deep dive into designing and implementing event-driven systems, which is highly relevant for building reactive and scalable serverless applications. It offers valuable architectural knowledge that complements serverless-specific technical guides.
Is geared towards beginners and focuses on designing applications based on business processes. It helps in understanding how workflows are translated into functional applications, which is relevant for those involved in the technical implementation of workflows.
Highlights the power of checklists in ensuring consistency and avoiding errors in complex processes and workflows. While not strictly about business workflows, it offers valuable insights into improving reliability and efficiency in any task-oriented process.
A popular book on personal productivity, 'GTD' provides a framework for organizing tasks and projects, essentially creating personal workflows for managing commitments and information. While focused on individual productivity, its principles can be applied to understanding and structuring workflows at a larger scale.
Serverless computing key aspect of cloud-native development. explores various patterns for building cloud-native applications, including concepts relevant to serverless, microservices, and distributed systems. It helps in understanding how serverless fits within the broader cloud-native landscape.
Provides a guide to lean software development, a set of practices that helps organizations deliver software more quickly and efficiently. Lean software development key part of DevOps, and this book provides a valuable introduction to the field.
Targets developers looking to build full-stack applications using serverless technologies, specifically with React, AWS, and GraphQL. It provides a practical, hands-on approach to building modern applications leveraging serverless services. It's a good resource for those interested in the practical application of serverless in a full-stack context.
Provides a practical approach to building Function as a Service (FaaS) solutions using Azure Functions with C#. It good resource for developers specifically working with Azure Functions and the C# language.
Given the mention of 'Serverless on Kubernetes' in the course list, this book provides essential knowledge on Kubernetes, a platform often used in conjunction with or as an underlying layer for serverless deployments. It covers deploying and managing containerized applications, which is relevant for understanding serverless options like Cloud Run or AWS Fargate.
For more information about how these books relate to this course, visit:
OpenCourser.com/career/doce2w/devops
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