🦸‍♂️ Nobody Dreamed of Becoming a DevOps Engineer

"Hello World" 👋

Here we are, at the start of what I hope will be the first of many articles talking about my journey, not only as a DevOps engineer, but also as Developer.

Like many others in this field, I never dreamed of becoming a DevOps Engineer (and a Technical Lead, on top of it, but I don't want to brag about that 😇), but the path here was inevitable, almost like solving a puzzle I didn't know I had been assembling all along. 🧩

Nobody Dreamed of Becoming a DevOps Engineer

Let's be honest - nobody dreamed of becoming a DevOps engineer when they were a child 💭.
When I first began my journey in tech, DevOps wasn't even on my radar. My love for tech started when I learned my first "programming" language: HTML (pun intended) 😅. At the time, it felt like programming, and the thrill of building my first web page was unmatched. As a kid, I was amazed about what can be rendered from a simple HTML and a bit of CSS 😮.
But as I moved from static web pages to dynamic applications, things started to shift.

I began learning backend development, starting with PHP, then expanding into more structured programming languages like Pascal, C++, C# (Pascal? I already feel like a fossil by just saying that word 😆).
This opened doors to full-stack development, allowing me to work on both the frontend and backend of applications. But as my applications grew, so did the need to deploy them efficiently. That's when I stumbled into the world of pipelines, CI/CD, and cloud infrastructure management.

Suddenly, managing deployments manually wasn't enough. I needed to automate processes, manage infrastructure effectively, and deliver code seamlessly. This realization pushed me toward DevOps - and once I discovered the power of automations, I was hooked to it. ⚙️💻☁️

PS: C# is still my #1 programming language. 💗
Whenever I have some spare time I still play, experiment or implement something new with it. Why not!?? 🙂

Why DevOps? The Power of Automation

For me, DevOps was all about automation. ⚙️⚙️ I've never been a fan of ClickOps - the process of manually managing infrastructure through web portals. Clicking through the Azure portal to configure resources felt repetitive and draining, not to mention prone to human error. Every task I repeated manually seemed like a waste of time and energy. That's when the allure of DevOps clicked.

Automating infrastructure and deployments allowed me to focus on what really mattered - delivering value quickly and efficiently. DevOps gave me the tools to streamline repetitive tasks, reduce errors, and scale infrastructure effortlessly. Automation was, and still is, my main driver in this space. 🚀

Avoid the trap of trying to automate every tiny detail, as it can lead to losing sight of what's truly important. Attempting to automate the last 20% of processes may consume 80% of your time and energy, potentially derailing your overall progress.

PS: I'll tell you in another article about how lazy I am and how that thing drove to build an entire ecosystem of applications and services to automate tasks, saving me 1 MILION clicks and likely an equal amount of Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V actions. 🥴😵

Some of you might have already guest what this could be about, but Stay Tuned!

The DevOps Toolbelt: CLI, Scripting and Pipelines

One of the most exciting aspects of being a DevOps engineer is the variety of tools at your disposal. Whether you're automating infrastructure, managing deployments, or integrating security into your pipelines, you need a robust toolbelt to get the job done.

CLI Tools

As a DevOps engineer, you'll become best friends with command-line interfaces. From managing infrastructure with Terraform to interacting with cloud services through Azure CLI or AWS CLI and why not GitHub CLI, everything revolves around the command line. Automating these interactions is where the magic happens.

Sometimes, to be honest, CLIs can feel like an uphill battle - they can be daunting foes, especially when you're learning their quirks. But hey! There's always room for improvement everywhere.

Scripting

Knowing how to script is the bedrock of DevOps. Whether it's PowerShell, Bash or Python (did I really said that!? Python… 😨), scripting gives you the freedom to customize and automate just about anything. Think about those repetitive tasks that slow down your day-to-day operations - scripting can automate them away. For example, using PowerShell to configure environments or Bash to manage server tasks saves you hours of manual work. It's not just a time-saver; scripting offers flexibility to solve unique problems that a simple GUI can't address. You'll soon realize that scripts aren't just for local tasks - they're a vital part of CI/CD pipelines as well.

However, this doesn't mean you're limited just to scripting languages. For an instance, I'd like to see all my automations written in C# one day. Whether it's implementing functionalities in Terraform or CI/CD pipelines, you can use too C# for various tasks. There's a whole horizon.

CI/CD

Don't be afraid to use scripts in your CI/CD pipelines; and I'm telling you this because I was... I really was "afraid" to use scripting for a reason I cannot remember.

In fact, many aspects of continuous integration and delivery rely on scripting, from custom build steps to deployment automation. Tools like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, and Azure Pipelines allow you to embed your scripts directly into the pipeline or run them from separate files, giving you full control over the process. I suggest storing scripts in separate files to enhance testability, even within local development environments. If you're managing infrastructure, for instance, Terraform scripts can automatically provision resources as part of your deployment flow. With scripting, you can ensure consistency, automate rollbacks, and even integrate testing into every step of the pipeline. Once you get the hang of it, scripting in CI/CD becomes second nature, and the benefits in terms of reliability and speed are undeniable.

Automate Everything: NoOps

"NoOps" - (not) just another buzzword.
While still in its infancy, NoOps envisions a future where infrastructure management is fully automated - so much so that developers no longer need to worry about operations.

I envision building our internal tools and core components in a way that developers would genuinely "love" to use: Pipeline Templates, Configurations as Code, Infrastructure as Code—you name it. I see this concept as similar to an SDK.

While we aren't quite at NoOps yet, the concept illustrates just how far automation can go.

And remember! GitOps goes hand in hand with NoOps.
(Uuugh! Do I need to explain GitOps as well!?? 😩🙈)

Ok! I'll be quick: GitOps - Make sure you keep everything in repository(es). 😇

Different Faces of DevOps Engineers

Throughout my career, I've encountered many different types of DevOps engineers. Each comes from a unique background, and each has their own strengths and challenges. Let me introduce you to a few:

The Ops-Heavy Engineer: Lacking the "Dev" in DevOps

These engineers typically come from traditional IT operations. They are experts at managing servers, networks, and cloud resources but often rely on manual processes through GUIs and dashboards. They may be proficient at ClickOps but lack the coding skills needed to automate these processes. Their DevOps journey starts with learning scripting languages like PowerShell, Bash, or Python and mastering tools like Terraform or Ansible to automate their work.

The Dev-Heavy Engineer: Experiencing Ops for the First Time

On the other end of the spectrum, you'll find developers who are diving into the world of operations for the first time. They're skilled at writing clean code and building applications, but managing infrastructure, deploying applications, and troubleshooting cloud environments is new to them. Their challenge is learning how to integrate deployment pipelines and monitor infrastructure while maintaining the quality of their code.

The Balanced DevOps Engineer

The ideal DevOps engineer balances both development and operations
(🤚 Yep! That's me 😁). These engineers can write scripts, manage infrastructure, automate processes, and troubleshoot issues in production. This type of engineer represents the essence of DevOps: combining the development skills to build software with the operational know-how to deploy and maintain it seamlessly.

No matter where you start, each path is a valid entry point into the world of DevOps. Whether you're an ops-heavy engineer learning to code or a developer stepping into the world of infrastructure, there's room for everyone in this journey.

Getting Started in DevOps

1. Learn Coding: Pick up Python, Bash, or PowerShell to automate tasks.
2. Know the Cloud: Familiarize yourself with AWS, Azure, and/or GCP basics.
3. Master Git: Understand version control—branching, merging, and pull requests.
4. CI/CD Pipelines: Automate testing, building, and deploying code.
5. Infrastructure as Code: Use tools like Terraform to manage infrastructure via code.
6. Collaboration: Work closely with different teams for smooth delivery.

What to Expect from DevOps

1. Automation Focus: Replace manual tasks with scripts.
2. Always Learning: New tools and tech appear fast.
3. Problem Solving: Troubleshoot and scale infrastructure.
4. Teamwork: Work with developers, testers, and IT.
5. Process Ownership: Oversee software delivery.
6. Security: Integrate security into workflows.

Conclusion: Starting Your DevOps Journey

Whether you're an ops expert learning to code or a developer stepping into operations for the first time, the world of DevOps is vast and full of opportunities. The key is to embrace automation, continuously learn, and always be looking for ways to improve efficiency and scalability.
Whether you're targeting Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud or other cloud provider, the concepts are the same.

This is just the beginning of my journey in writing articles, and there's much more to come. In future articles, I'll talk about different experiences I had along the way, dive deeper into specific tools, automations, and probably some other tips and tricks that can be used in the DevOps world. 🙏

So, stay tuned - there's a lot more to explore! 👀

Credits

Thanks to @koladev for the nice article that kickstarted in me the whole idea of writing articles.
🔗 How to Build Your Online Presence as a Developer

Thanks to @birghi for the persistence he showed by asking once in a while Hey! Did you publish your article? 😇
(Now it's my turn 😈)

Thanks to @dumebii for the nice article that pushed me to stop overthinking the writing of this article and just publish it 😉.
🔗 🚀 How to become a Technical Writer

Your first article is probably the hardest article you'd write

If you enjoyed this article and want to stay updated with my journey and future posts, consider giving me a follow! I'd love to connect and keep exploring DevOps, automation, and more together. 😊🚀