DevOps brings software development and IT operations together through collaboration, automation and continuous improvement. This A–Z glossary explains common DevOps, DevSecOps, cloud, automation, container, CI/CD and site reliability terms in clear, practical language.
A
Artifact
A packaged output from a build process, such as a compiled application, container image or deployment bundle.
Automation
The use of tools and scripts to perform repeatable tasks such as testing, provisioning, deployment and monitoring with minimal manual intervention.
B
Build
The process of converting source code and dependencies into a deployable application or artifact.
Blue-Green Deployment
A release method using two production environments so traffic can switch from the old version to the new one with minimal downtime.
C
CI/CD
Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery or Deployment. A set of practices that automate building, testing and releasing software.
Container
A lightweight, portable package containing an application and the dependencies it needs to run consistently across environments.
D
Deployment Pipeline
An automated sequence that moves software through build, test and release stages toward production.
DevSecOps
An approach that integrates security practices and checks throughout the software delivery lifecycle rather than treating security as a final step.
E
Environment
A defined set of infrastructure and configuration used for stages such as development, testing, staging or production.
F
Feature Flag
A control that enables or disables application functionality without requiring a new deployment.
G
Git
A distributed version control system widely used to track code changes and support collaborative software development.
GitOps
An operational model in which desired infrastructure or application state is stored in Git and automated systems reconcile live environments to match it.
H
Helm
A package manager for Kubernetes that uses charts to define, install and manage applications.
I
Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
The practice of defining and managing infrastructure through machine-readable configuration files rather than manual setup.
Immutable Infrastructure
An approach where deployed infrastructure is replaced rather than modified in place when changes are required.
J
Jenkins
A widely used automation server for building CI/CD pipelines and integrating software delivery tools.
K
Kubernetes
An open-source platform for deploying, scaling and managing containerised applications across clusters of machines.
L
Load Balancing
Distributing incoming traffic across multiple servers or application instances to improve availability and performance.
Logging
The collection of time-stamped application and system events used for troubleshooting, auditing and operational analysis.
M
Microservices
An architectural style that breaks an application into smaller independently deployable services.
Monitoring
The ongoing collection and review of metrics and alerts to understand the health and performance of systems and applications.
N
Namespace
A logical boundary used by platforms such as Kubernetes to organise and isolate resources.
O
Observability
The ability to understand a system's internal state from outputs such as logs, metrics and distributed traces.
Orchestration
Automated coordination of multiple systems, services or containers to carry out complex operational workflows.
P
Pipeline
A defined automated workflow that moves code through stages such as build, test, security scanning and deployment.
Provisioning
Creating and configuring infrastructure resources such as servers, networks, storage or cloud services.
Q
Quality Gate
A rule or checkpoint that must be passed before code can move to the next stage of a delivery pipeline.
R
Repository
A managed location for source code, configuration files, packages or container images.
Rollback
Reverting an application or environment to a previous known-good version after a failed or problematic release.
S
Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)
A discipline that applies software engineering methods to operations, with a focus on reliability, automation and measurable service objectives.
Shift Left
Moving activities such as testing, security and quality checks earlier in the development lifecycle.
T
Terraform
An infrastructure as code tool used to define and provision cloud and other infrastructure through declarative configuration.
Trunk-Based Development
A version control practice where developers integrate small changes frequently into a shared main branch.
U
Uptime
The proportion of time a system or service is available and operating as expected.
V
Version Control
A system for tracking and managing changes to source code and related files over time.
W
Workflow
A defined sequence of automated or manual steps used to complete a software delivery or operational process.
X
X as Code
A broad DevOps concept of managing repeatable operational elements, such as infrastructure, policy or configuration, through version-controlled code.
Y
YAML
A human-readable data format commonly used for pipeline, Kubernetes and infrastructure configuration files.
Z
Zero-Downtime Deployment
A deployment designed so users can continue accessing a service while a new version is released.
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