Fundamentals of Platform Engineering (feat. James Schorr)

Polyglot Software Development

In this conversation, James Schorr, a senior director in the cloud platform area, discusses platform engineering and its impact on developers. Platform engineering is the next evolution of DevOps, aiming to provide a consistent and easy-to-use platform for developers. It simplifies the developer experience by reducing the cognitive load and allowing developers to focus on writing code. The goal is to make the developer's life easier and provide a self-service platform. The platform engineering team aims to meet the needs of developers using different programming languages and frameworks. The skills needed for integrating with platform engineering include understanding CI/CD pipelines and configuration management. In this conversation, James Schorr and Krish discuss various aspects of platform engineering. They cover topics such as understanding Kubernetes and serverless, concerns about learning and vendor lock-in, balancing ease of use and continuous learning, the job market for platform engineering, and the suitability of platform engineering for different organizations.

Takeaways

• Platform engineering is the next evolution of DevOps, providing a consistent and easy-to-use platform for developers.
• The goal of platform engineering is to simplify the developer experience and reduce the cognitive load on developers.
• Platform engineering aims to provide a self-service platform, allowing developers to focus on writing code.
• Developers should have the freedom to choose their preferred programming languages and frameworks, while the platform engineering team focuses on providing the necessary tools and support.
• Skills needed for integrating with platform engineering include understanding CI/CD pipelines and configuration management. It is important to understand the underlying concepts of Kubernetes and serverless, as the specific tools and implementations may vary between companies.
• Learning and adapting to different platform engineering tools and approaches is necessary, but it can be a concern for consultants or individuals who may need to switch organizations.
• Continuous learning is essential for personal growth and should not be solely dependent on the organization or platform engineering team.
• Platform engineering skills, along with security and integration expertise, are in high demand in the job market.
• Platform engineering is more suitable for medium to large-sized organizations that can dedicate resources to manage and maintain the platform.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Overview
00:45 What is Platform Engineering?
03:00 Transition from DevOps to Platform Engineering
06:16 Impact on Developer's Daily Life
08:10 Simplifying Developer Experience
10:35 Supporting Different Programming Languages
13:05 Time Savings for Developers
14:31 Quantifying Time Savings
17:07 Rolling Back Deployments
18:05 Self-Service and Developer Empowerment
21:13 Interacting with the Platform
24:09 Supporting Multiple Programming Languages
25:20 Different Team Configurations
28:39 Skills Needed for Platform Engineering
35:26 Different Developer Personas
39:00 Skills for Integrating with Platform Engineering
45:25 Understanding Kubernetes and Serverless
46:11 Concerns about Learning and Vendor Lock-In
49:56 Balancing Ease of Use and Continuous Learning
53:00 Job Market for Platform Engineering
57:31 Suitability of Platform Engineering for Different Organizations

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