What your developers need to know before they start working with Kubernetes

Kubernetes is a container orchestration platform that enables your company to deploy applications and services at scale. Additionally, you can automate the entire DevOps software lifecycle around this platform. Any company wanting to keep up with ever-increasing demand will have already considered Kubernetes as an option.

But once you dive into Kubernetes, your developers will immediately realize they have a long way to go. While getting a Kubernetes cluster up and running isn't all that challenging, everything after that can quickly become overwhelming. In fact, without adequate preparation, your developers will have a hard time getting to grips with Kubernetes and truly benefiting your company.

So what do these developers need to know before they start working with Kubernetes development services? Let's take a look at some of the skills your engineers will need for your company to make the most of container deployments.

Don't depend on documentation

The first thing your developers must understand is that Kubernetes documentation is not good. It's not that the company behind Kubernetes isn't capable of writing good documentation. The problem is the speed at which Kubernetes is evolving. In fact, few projects move as quickly as Kubernetes.

The reason for this unprecedented agility is because many companies rely on Kubernetes. Because of this, it is constantly changing. Unfortunately, documentation does not always keep up with these changes. You will often find that the official documentation contains outdated or corrupted elements. This means your developers will have to do a little digging to get everything working exactly as needed.

Patience

After poor documentation, your developers will need to have a lot of patience. Learning Kubernetes will take some time. And properly configuring and optimizing these container deployments will take even more time.

If you go into Kubernetes expecting to deploy your first application or service right away, you're in for a long and frustrating road. This means your developers should take plenty of time to fully understand what they're getting into before they attempt their first deployment.

Virtualization

One of the first concepts your developers should be familiar with is virtualization. And it's not just about knowing how to activate a guest virtual machine with VirtualBox or VMware. Your developers must fully understand the concepts behind virtualization, from hardware to software and every layer in between.

Containers

Next we have containers. You might think it would be obvious that developers would need to understand containers before they can start using a container orchestrator. You'd be surprised how many skip this step.

Before actually getting into Kubernetes, your developers should first spend a lot of time getting familiar with Docker or Podman. Learn how to deploy containers with both of these platforms, and don't even think about moving to Kubernetes until you can successfully deploy containerized applications and services with either of these platforms.

YAML

Even before your developers start working with Docker or Podman, they will need to know YAML syntax. The first thing that confuses developers is poorly tabbed and spaced YAML files. With just one line out of place, your YAML file will fail and the container will not deploy.

But it's not just about recoil. Your engineers will need to become familiar with the layout of Docker files and other manifests (all laid out in YAML format). Without absolutely solid knowledge of YAML, your developers will struggle from the start. This should be an easy win for most developers.

DevOps

One of the goals of Kubernetes is to employ DevOps (the intersection of development and operations). This makes it possible to drastically reduce and automate the software development lifecycle. By implementing DevOps, not only will your business be more agile, but you'll also save on your bottom line and enjoy more reliable applications and services.

But DevOps is not just an idea to be planted on the shoulders of your developers. This is something that multiple departments will have to be involved in. But the most important aspect is that everyone is able to collaborate and work towards the same goal of automating the deployment and management of their applications and services via Kubernetes.

AWS/Google Cloud/Azure

While you can start your Kubernetes journey with a small cluster of on-premises data center servers, you will eventually have to migrate to a cloud-based service. Why? Because your internal data center is not as capable of scaling to massive proportions as AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure.

To do this, your developers need to be very familiar with these services. They need to know how to log in, use the dashboards, deploy virtual machines, and access them remotely.

Linux

Finally, your developers will need to know Linux, which is the de facto standard operating system for deploying containerized applications. Without understanding how Linux works and how to use the open source operating system, your developers will struggle.

Yes, they can do all their development with Windows or macOS, but the process of deploying virtual machines and then deploying containers and managing them with Kubernetes will be all Linux all day long.

Conclusion

And that's the short list of things your developers should know before diving into Kubernetes. But with these skills under their belt, it will be much easier for them to take off with this incredibly powerful and widespread technology.

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