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Learn DevOps

Want to learn how companies create and continuously update software? DevOps is often the answer. Learn about DevOps, and enroll in online software development courses on edX.

Software engineers and anyone else working within the software delivery pipeline have likely heard of the term DevOps. It's a transformative way of ensuring timely, reliable software delivery, common in nearly every industry that creates, monitors, and updates software.

Find out how to learn DevOps and explore online course offerings on edX.

What is DevOps?

DevOps is a combination of organizational and technical practices that an organization uses to streamline, automate, and maintain software application operations and delivery. The DevOps methodology prioritizes releasing software in small, incremental updates over large-scale, infrequent overhauls.

With automated "lifecycles," a DevOps workflow enables teams to answer the demand for fast-paced software feature updates and bug fixes. It focuses on continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) for fast-paced results with minimal downtime.

This operational methodology also combines IT and software development teams, allowing them to collaborate more easily and deliver new features.

What are the benefits of learning DevOps?

  • Growing field: DevOps/MLOps is only becoming more essential as machine learning and AI workflow pipelines grow in popularity.
  • Room for growth: Many experienced software engineers advance their careers to become DevOps engineers.
  • Transferable skills: By learning DevOps, you'll build many technical and professional skills — including problem-solving and communication — that you can apply across industries.
  • Range of necessary roles: Each DevOps lifecycle relies on unique professionals with specific skills.

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Related Topics

What can you learn from DevOps classes?

Online DevOps courses can help anyone in the DevOps workflow, regardless of your role, build skills. For example, if you're a software developer who wants to upskill, DevOps classes can qualify you for new, advanced roles. Or, if you're a product manager, you can also build a career by understanding DevOps lifecycles, culture, and processes.

Technical aspects

  • Delivery
  • Industry tools
  • Infrastructure as code
  • Test-driven development
  • Behavior-driven development
  • Automation

Essential cultural practices

  • Frequent, open feedback
  • Shared ownership and responsibility
  • Communication and transparency
  • Embracing and learning from failure
  • Crossfunctionality

Which skills are essential to DevOps careers?

DevOps roles generally aren't entry-level. Before you start learning DevOps, you should master the basics of software engineering, which include algorithms, programming, and data structures.

Once you have ample experience working in software development, you can begin exploring the coding, management, and engineering principles necessary for DevOps applications. These principles or best practices are tailored for delivering products on DevOps lifecycles:

  • Social coding and Git
  • Software testing
  • Test- and behavior-driven development
  • Version control systems
  • CI/CD
  • Monitoring

A guiding principle of DevOps is the idea that responsibilities should be collaborative and that open feedback structures are beneficial in the workplace. Product managers, who are responsible for monitoring the development team's progress, must possess essential soft skills, including time management, leadership, and effective communication, to meet timelines and achieve goals.

Jobs for DevOps professionals

Because it's a methodology rather than a set of specific duties, many job titles in DevOps often amount to the same daily responsibilities. Common DevOps job titles include:

  • Software engineer/developer
  • DevOps engineer
  • Cloud engineer
  • Platform engineer/developer
  • Systems engineer

Specialized jobs within the DevOps process include:

  • Automation engineer
  • DevSecOps engineer
  • Site reliability engineer

Below, find roles that you can pursue by learning DevOps, including salary and job outlook data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):

Software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers

Software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers are responsible for building and fixing software, as well as analyzing and testing products before they hit the market.

  • Median annual salary (2024): $131,450
  • Job growth outlook (2024-34): +15%

Where can you start learning DevOps?

You can learn how to think like a DevOps engineer with online courses on edX that suit any learner's timeline and experience level:

Beginner

Start your DevOps journey in online courses that familiarize you with best practices in DevOps. Discover the social requirements and how this type of programming differs from other product delivery methods in online courses like IBM: DevOps Basics for Everyone on edX.

Explore IBM: DevOps Basics for Everyone

Your next steps on edX

Start exploring the DevOps methodology and qualify for more advanced, higher-paying roles in software development. Your next steps on edX may include:

  1. Auditing a DevOps course on edX to learn about the job requirements.
  2. Earning a degree or microcredential in software engineering or information technology on edX.
  3. Becoming an expert in the field and leading your team to success by enrolling in an Executive Education Program on edX.
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Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to learn DevOps?

Because DevOps is a methodology rather than a subject, it can take years of software development experience to fully understand the workflow. However, software engineers may only work on one functionality or lifecycle, gaining DevOps experience on the job.

Is it hard to learn DevOps?

No, it's no harder to learn DevOps than it is to learn software development. DevOps is simply a different approach to achieving software delivery — utilizing various tools and mindsets. Thinking like a DevOps engineer and building the infrastructure that makes the process functional, however, may take longer than learning how to work within the cycle.

Why should I learn DevOps?

You should learn DevOps because it's an extremely common method of software delivery for modern companies. Additionally, there are increasing opportunities to incorporate AI and machine learning into these workflows, requiring workers to build new skills and stay up to date.