DevOps is a shorthand term that combines “development” and “operations.” It entails performing the various tasks of application development in a specific order. DevOps is a broad term for a combination of software development and IT operations. The DevOps approach adopts continuous innovation, agility, and scalability to build, test, consume, and develop software products. It fosters an environment of experimentation, feedback, and constant learning to reinvent products, services, and processes. It is the approach rehearsed by the development team and operational engineers from the beginning to the final stage of the product. However, to implement DevOps, a thorough understanding of the various stages of the DevOps lifecycle is required

1. Critical Phases Of DevOps Lifecycle
DevOps is a shorthand term that combines “development” and “operations.” It
entails performing the various tasks of application development in a specific order.
DevOps is a broad term for a combination of software development and IT
operations. The DevOps approach adopts continuous innovation, agility, and
scalability to build, test, consume, and develop software products. It fosters an
environment of experimentation, feedback, and constant learning to reinvent
products, services, and processes.
It is the approach rehearsed by the development team and operational engineers
from the beginning to the final stage of the product. However, to implement
DevOps, a thorough understanding of the various stages of the DevOps lifecycle is
required. To deliver faster results, developers must understand all phases of the
DevOps lifecycle. If they are not, the development process can become complicated
and time-consuming. Understanding DevOps is not done without understanding the
DevOps lifecycle phases.
The DevOps lifecycle is a collection of automated development processes or
workflows that occur within an iterative development lifecycle. It takes a continuous
approach, so its lifecycle is represented by an infinity loop. The DevOps lifecycle
optimizes development processes from beginning to end and engages the
organization in continuous development, resulting in faster delivery.

2. The following is a detailed breakdown and study of each component of the DevOps
lifecycle-
• Continuous Development
• Continuous Integration
• Continuous Testing
• Continuous Feedback
• Continuous Monitoring
• Continuous Deployment
• Continuous Operations
Continuous Development
The foremost phase of the DevOps lifecycle involves planning and software
development. Understanding the project’s vision and envisioning software based on
those perceptions is part of the planning process. Planning does not necessitate the
use of any practical tools, but maintaining the code requires using various devices.
Creating the source code for an application begins with selecting a programming
language. JavaScript, C/C++, and Python are popular programming languages in
DevOps.
Continuous Integration
After development, the continuous integration process begins automatically. It
consists of several steps, such as planning tests for the next phase and
understanding the code to produce the desired outcome specified in the initial
project documentation. Continuous integration is a seamless process in DevOps
that efficiently leads to the next phase. The continuous integration of this new code
into the existing source code aids in reflecting the changes that end users will
encounter with the updated code. As a result, Jenkins is widely used as a
dependable DevOps tool for obtaining updated source code and constructing builds
in.exe format. These transitions are seamless, and the updated code is packaged
and sent to the next phase, either the production or testing server.
Continuous Testing
In DevOps, the testing process examines the actual use of an application. Beta
testers produce results while ensuring that the application can be used in a live
environment. The testing process provides more information about various aspects
of an application, then sent to the development process to improve the application.
Some developers perform continuous testing before the continuous integration
phase. This phase in the DevOps lifecycle can be repositioned around the
continuous integration phase based on changes to the application code. The
developed software is constantly tested for bugs here. Docker containers are used
to simulate a test environment. Developers save time and effort by using
automated testing instead of manual testing.

3. Continuous Monitoring
Monitoring is a phase that involves all operational aspects of the DevOps process, in
which important information about software usage is recorded and carefully
processed to identify trends and problem areas. Typically, monitoring is built into
the software application’s operational capabilities. When in a continuous use
position, it may appear in the form of documentation files or may generate large-
scale data about the application parameters. This phase resolves system errors
such as servers not being reachable, low memory, etc. In addition, it ensures the
service’s security and availability.
Continuous Feedback
The two critical phases that ensure consistent improvements in the application code
are continuous testing and continuous integration. Continuous feedback is a unique
phase in which these improvements are evaluated. Developers can predict how
these changes will affect the final product. Most importantly, customers who tested
these applications can share their experiences during this phase. In most cases, this
stage of the DevOps lifecycle marks a watershed moment in the application
development process.
The feedback is quickly assessed, and developers get to work on the new changes.
Soon after, there is a positive response in customer feedback, paving the way for
new versions of the software application.
Continuous Deployment
The deployment process is carried out so that any changes made to the code should
not affect the operation of a high-traffic website. The new code is continuously
deployed, and configuration management tools are critical in executing tasks
frequently and quickly. Chef, Puppet, Ansible, and SaltStack are some popular tools
used during this phase. Traditionally, the phase of continuous deployment comes
before the phase of continuous monitoring. However, developers ensure that this
phase is always active in the DevOps lifecycle, particularly after the application goes
live and begins receiving a high traffic volume. Containerization tools are also crucial
during the deployment phase. Vagrant and Docker are two popular tools for this
purpose. These tools aid in maintaining consistency across the development,
staging, testing, and production environments. They also help in the soft scaling up
and scaling down of instances.
Continuous Operations
The final phase of the DevOps lifecycle is the shortest and least complicated. The
goal of continuous operation is to automate the release of the application and
subsequent updates. As a result, continuous operations have shorter development
cycles, allowing developers to continually accelerate the application’s time-to-
market. In addition, all DevOps operations are based on continuity with complete
automation of the release process, allowing the organization to accelerate the
overall time to market continuously.

4. Conclusion
DevOps is primarily used to develop applications for e-commerce websites, cloud-
native applications, and other large distributed platforms. DevOps describes an
agile relationship between development and operations. The DevOps lifecycle is
defined as phases that include continuous software development, integration,
testing, deployment, and monitoring. A competent DevOps lifecycle is required to
build superior quality software through the system.