Definition
DevOps is a set of practices, tools, and a cultural philosophy that automates and integrates the processes between software development and IT operations teams. It aims to shorten the systems development life cycle and provide continuous delivery with high software quality. By breaking down silos between development and operations, DevOps fosters collaboration and communication, leading to faster, more reliable software releases and improved operational efficiency. For instance, a team might use a CI/CD pipeline to automatically build, test, and deploy code changes whenever new commits are made to the repository. This approach is often confused with agile methodologies, though DevOps extends agile principles to the operational side of software delivery, encompassing deployment and ongoing management. You will encounter DevOps concepts on exams like AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate and in domains related to cloud computing and software development lifecycle management.