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Introduction to Computer Science

Introduction

Introduction to Computer ScienceIntroduction
A photograph of a city with a cloud icon superimposed over it.
Figure 12.1 Cloud-native development and optimization is critical to delivering software applications securely, more rapidly, and continuously. (credit: modification of "Cloud" by James Cridland/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Chapter Outline

12.1 Introduction to Cloud-Native Applications
12.2 Cloud-Based and Cloud-Native Applications Deployment Technologies
12.3 Example PaaS and FaaS Deployments of Cloud-Native Applications

Organizations are facing more pressure today to retain customers who depend on updated or new business capabilities. This requires organizations to deliver software applications securely, more rapidly, and continuously. For organizations to adapt existing applications or build new applications using cloud-native application development, they must abide by a different set of architectural constraints to leverage cloud infrastructure in comparison to traditional on-premises infrastructure.

The focus should be on how to optimize these applications to leverage the capabilities that cloud platforms offer. There are four key principles of cloud-native development that help with designing applications for the cloud. First, applications should adopt a microservices architecture by breaking down the software into small components or services. Second, containerization must be applied to package microservices and isolate them for development and deployment. This not only speeds up development, but also makes it easier to quickly move isolated containers from one deployment environment to another. Containerization platforms such as Docker (an open-source platform used to deploy and run containerized applications) and container orchestration systems such as Kubernetes are instrumental in achieving this. Third, microservices are also more easily managed through continuous integration and continuous delivery. This makes it easier to automate the development and scale the deployment of highly resilient, manageable, and observable cloud-native applications. Fourth, DevOps facilitates the collaborative development of cloud-native applications using continuous delivery practices and results in shorter application development and deployment life cycles. DevOps allows development teams to adapt to changing user requirements more quickly while promoting business agility.

By adopting these four key principles, organizations can speed up the process of cloud-native development and deployment. Cloud-native applications are critical to facilitate the creation of modern software solutions that interface with next-generation secure super society intelligent autonomous solutions (e.g., advanced robotics, autonomous cars, and drones, or other autonomous systems). Organizations in many industries rely on the use of cloud-native applications to conduct business daily.

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