Difference between Agile and DevOps

There are three key milestones in the evolution of software development. The waterfall method, which focuses on the time required to release a product, was introduced first. The agile technique followed, which optimised the development life cycle.

DevOps now aims to bring development and operations together as a single team. It boosts productivity, promotes collaboration, and produces better goods.

What Exactly is Agile?

In the SDLC process, Agile Methodology entails continual iteration of development and testing. This style of software development focuses on iterative, incremental, and evolutionary development.

The agile development approach divides the product into smaller components and assembles them for final testing. It can be implemented in a variety of techniques, including scrum, kanban, scrum, XP, and so on.

Agile software development is founded on the following basic values −

Individuals and interactions take precedence over processes and tools. The manifesto emphasizes the value of each team member and the importance of creating a healthy and dynamic work environment. It encourages frequent communication between coworkers to maximize productivity and ensure that everyone is participating in the development process.
Functional software is prioritized over exhaustive documentation. The delivery of software must proceed regardless of any obstacles posed by the documentation. In the past, it was required that every project begin with in-depth documentation of the needs and expectations of the program that was being developed. Agile is focused on humiliating modifications and avoids spending too much time on documentation that will undoubtedly get revised later.
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation. Continuous development entails working with the customer regularly. Immediate input steers the project in the path which will finally deliver the best results. Negotiating a contract with the customer before development and referring back to it after production leads to potential misinterpretation. It should be avoided.

Agile Software Development

Implementing agile frameworks such as Scrum and Kanban is a necessary step in the agile software development process. The first step of each software development life-cycle is to partition the project into individual stories and requirements that can be easily managed. Sprints are used to coordinate the various tasks. A sprint is a period of time, typically consisting of two weeks, during which the team focuses on bringing a particular feature into operational status.

The team's primary focus throughout the sprint is on developing, testing, and releasing software, while making improvements as necessary along the way. They will continue to advance through the project in this manner until all of the sprints have been finished. This methodology enables the release of software on an ongoing basis. Customers, stakeholders, and project managers are all able to follow along and provide input in order to guarantee that the final product is satisfactory.

What is DevOps?

The culture of software development known as DevOps encourages close cooperation between the software development team and the operations team in order to boost both collaboration and productivity. In addition to this, the technique entails the implementation of DevOps concepts and practices, as well as the use of a set of DevOps tools for the testing process.

Communication, end-to-end responsibility, and information sharing are all facilitated by the principles of DevOps. They determine what DevOps is and what its goals are.

In contrast to more conventional methods of software development, DevOps is characterized by an iterative cycle that includes building, testing, delivering, and monitoring software. The primary goal of DevOps is to produce high-quality software in an effective manner.

Principles of DevOps

The adoption of DevOps is becoming increasingly widespread among businesses. There are a lot of benefits that come along with implementing DevOps, such as rapid and simple software integration deployments.

It is impossible to make the shift to this new culture without first gaining knowledge of the core beliefs and ideals that underpin it. It is necessary for both the development team and the operations team to adopt a new mentality, which in turn motivates them to operate together as one cohesive entity.

In an environment that uses DevOps, the engineering process is guided by the foundation, which consists of the following principles −

Version Control − Multiple times each day, developers will upload new and updated code to a centralized repository. Prior to submitting code to the main repository (master branch), every code must be checked. Other developers are able to track changes, which makes collaboration much easier.
Continuous Integration − Several times a day, individual developers on the development team will merge their code into a central repository. Each developer breaks down the job into digestible, smaller portions of code and finds potential merge conflicts and errors in a shorter amount of time.
Continuous Delivery − The end-user receives the updated version of the code in a manner that is compatible with its ongoing integration. Contributions of a smaller size enable for faster update releases, which is an essential component in ensuring the happiness of customers.
Continuous Development − Automating processes in order to increase the rate of production is a significant aspect of the DevOps methodology. Continuous deployment requires automating the release of relatively minor updates that do not represent a significant risk to the architecture that is currently in place.
Continuous Testing − Such a method comprises testing as much as feasible in every level of development. Beneficial feedback and an accurate risk assessment of the process at hand can be obtained through the use of automated testing.
Continuous Operations − The DevOps team is constantly attempting to improve the software through the use of frequent yet incremental updates. That is why DevOps demands regular monitoring of performance. The elimination of downtime and availability problems throughout the code release process is its primary objective.

DevOps Software Development

DevOps software development relies on a defined pipeline the project has to pass through. The number of phases depends on the complexity and type of software the team is producing. The stages of developing, building, testing, and deploying are the most important ones.

In many cases, the stages described above are preceded by the planning stage, and the monitoring stage is typically introduced after the deployment stage.

Comparison between Agile and DevOps

The following table highlights the major differences between Agile and DevOps −

Basis of comparison	Agile	DevOps
Definition	Agile is a culture that places a primary emphasis on the consistent delivery of tiny, manageable portions of a project via iterative development and testing	DevOps is a process that improves both teamwork and production by having the operations team and development team work together to solve problems.
Use	It is applicable to the management of complex projects in any department that requires assistance.	Focuses on the complete engineering process from beginning to end.
Focus	To achieve an improved level of quality, you should establish a setting that is open to adjustments made midway through the project.	Combining the efforts of the development and operations teams in order to implement continuous testing and development practices.
Team	The members of the team are fewer in number, yet they collaborate closely and share similar skill sets.	A huge number of different skill sets included inside a larger team that is comprised of several different departments.
Delivery	Iterative deployments following the completion of each sprint (usually a weekly or biweekly period).	The daily provision of a continuous delivery is the objective (or even every few hours).
Documentation	A very little amount of paperwork to help increase adaptability throughout the development process.	A sufficient amount of documentation to facilitate effective collaboration between the teams. Communication will be prioritized over the creation of official paperwork.
Quality and Risk	After each iteration, the product's quality improves while the associated risks become progressively less severe.	Effective teamwork and automated testing allow for the production of products of a high quality while minimizing associated risks.
Feedback	Focuses on the feedback from customers and makes necessary adjustments to the product as a result.	Promotes internal feedback among the team members in order to enhance performance and delivery times.
Tools	Kanboard, JIRA, Active Collab, Bugzilla, Slack, Trello.	TeamCity, AWS, Puppet, OpenStack, Docker, Jenkins, Kubernetes, GitLab.

Conclusion

It makes very little sense to talk about one without the other because ultimately, the objectives of agile and DevOps are the same: to enhance the rate at which software is developed as well as its overall quality.

There are a lot of teams that have discovered that agile approaches help them a lot, but there are also a lot of teams that have struggled to reap the benefits that an agile approach promises. This could be due to a number of factors, including the fact that teams do not completely understand agile practices or do not implement them appropriately.

It is also possible that integrating a DevOps approach will aid firms that struggle with agile to bridge the gaps in their processes and help them achieve the success they had hoped to achieve.