10 Books Every DevOps Enthusiast Must Read

Since the DevOps movement began in 2009, DevOps has been a pretty vast topic. And there’s still a lot of questions about what it means, how it’s done, and what the benefits of DevOps actually are. Add to this the constant iterations and creation of software, and it becomes clear that to succeed in the world of DevOps, you have to do your homework.

By keeping up to date with the latest industry trends, tools and technologies you can be sure you’ll become a better practitioner in the art and science of DevOps.

Indeed, constantly updating your skills and knowledge is invaluable – whether you are looking to score a top new job, or simply want to be the best DevOps person out there. After all, no one wants to work with someone who seems like they do not know what they are talking about.

So, whether you are new to the game, or you are a DevOps veteran, we have rounded up our recommended reading list that every DevOps enthusiast should be reading to develop their skills.

 1. Architecting for Scale : High Availability for Your Growing Applications 

Useful for new to mid-level readers, Architecting for Scale provides insight into real-world paradigms for scaling and managing critical applications. Exploring five different aspects of scaling: availability, risk management, services and microservices, scaling applications and cloud services, this book also provides a good high-level overview of the best processes and best practises to use in hyper-growth situations.

Recommended read for: If you want to learn more about building highly available applications without impacting the quality, understanding the struggles of scalability, or managing the risks associated with DevOps scaling then this is the book for you

 2. The DevOps Handbook : How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations

Probably one of the best-known books on this list, the DevOps Handbook shows leaders how to create the cultural norms and technical practices necessary to maximise organisational learning, increase employee satisfaction, and win in the marketplace. It is one of the most influential books in the DevOps community, and pretty much a staple for anyone looking for well-research work plus case studies.

Recommended read for: If you are looking for a broad DevOps education covering everything from the organisation design to the learning culture and technical sides of DevOps, pick this up.

3. Building Microservices : Designing Fine-Grained Systems

A relatively easy read, this book is well written and provides a good overview of micro services as well as topics like team building, versioning, logging, monitoring and much more. The author, Sam Newman, is highly knowledgeable and has considerable experience in the area of microservices – and this shows in the content. However, the book still manages to remain beginner friendly.

Recommended read for: If you want to learn, build or help to build a microservice architecture-based application, this will provide the overview you need.

4. DevOps for Web Development

Combining the skills of both web application deployment and system configuration with easy explanations for end to end automation (and a good amount of screen shots) this book will help you overcome the challenges of implementing DevOps web applications. Easy to read and understand, it should be a staple for system engineers or application developers wanting to get hands-on with tools such as Jenkins, Chef, AWS, Azure, Docker, New Relic or Nagios.

Recommended read for: DevOps beginners, developers or any sysadmins trying to enter the DevOps world.

5. Infrastructure as Code: Managing Servers in the Cloud

A roundup of industry best practice about cloud automation, infrastructure and DevOps, this book is well written and comprehensive. You will learn about the platforms and tooling involved in creating and configuring infrastructure elements, patterns for using these tools, and practices for making infrastructure as code work in your environment.

Recommended read for: Ideal for system administrators, infrastructure engineers, team leads, and architects. Or, if you’re just interested about ways of working that have been proven in organizations like Netflix, Amazon, and Etsy, or want to reinforce your management skills.

6. Effective DevOps

A practical guide to show you why DevOps is a professional and cultural movement that calls for change from inside your organisation. Providing several approaches for improving collaboration within and amongst team, promoting efficient tool usage, and scaling up what works, this book connects the technical and cultural aspects of DevOps in a fantastic manner that will help you make sustainable changes in your environment.

Recommended read for: Anyone wanting to implement and maintain an effective DevOps culture

7. Site Reliability Engineering : How Google Runs Production Systems

One of the best sellers on Amazon – and probably one of the best known on this list – this book discusses how Site Reliability Engineering has been used by Google to build, deploy and maintain some of the largest software systems in the world. The beauty of this book is that you don’t need to read it in any particular order, as ever chapter cover independent subjects.

Recommended read for: Anyone wanting to better understand the theory and practice of an SRE’s day-to-day work. Or, anyone with an interest in how Google management works for training, communications and meetings.

 8. Continuous Delivery: Reliable Software Releases through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation 

A guide on how to release software faster whilst reducing risk and increasing quality, this book covers the best practices and simple techniques for release and production deployment management. Covering state-of-the-art techniques and associates key issues, best practices and risk management for each, it is a solid read for anyone wanting to create a good deployment pipeline and delivery ecosystem.

Recommended read for: If you are looking for a step-by-step guide to manage new software releases faster, with less risk, and with more value, this is for you.

9. The Phoenix Project : A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win

A unique find in the world of DevOps, this book is a fictionalised account of DevOps in action. In a fast-paced and entertaining way, this book tells a story that anyone in IT will understand and connect with. Despite being fiction, it will help readers learn how to improve their IT organisations and help them view IT in a whole new way.

Recommended read for: Anyone with an interest in how DevOps works within an organisation

10. The Visible Ops Handbook

Written about 4 years before the term DevOps was coined, this book nails what high-performance IT is all about. And for that, it’s an essential read. It provides organisations with four key steps to replicating the key processes of a high-performing organisation; taking them from any starting point to a continually improving machine.

Recommended read for: Again, this a good general read for anyone looking to turn their organisations processes around – from managers to DevOps engineers, and beyond.

 

If you are a DevOps enthusiast looking for your next big role, contact us to see how Third Republics specialised DevOps and Cloud Consultants can help.