Effortless Cloud-Native App Development Using Skaffold

A practical guide to solving inner development loop problems in cloud-native applications by automating build, push, and deploy boilerplate using Skaffold

Key Features

• Learn how to build and deploy cloud-native applications quickly with Kubernetes
• Create a production-ready continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline for cloud-native apps
• Discover ways to create a GitOps-style CD workflow for cloud-native applications

Book Description

Kubernetes has become the de facto standard for container orchestration, drastically improving how we deploy and manage cloud-native apps. Although it has simplified the lives of support professionals, we cannot say the same for developers who need to be equipped with better tools to increase productivity. An automated workflow that solves a wide variety of problems that every developer faces can make all the difference!

Enter Skaffold – a command-line tool that automates the build, push, and deploy steps for Kubernetes applications.

This book is divided into three parts, starting with common challenges encountered by developers in building apps with Kubernetes. The second part covers Skaffold features, its architecture, supported container image builders, and more. In the last part, you'll focus on practical implementation, learning how to deploy Spring Boot apps to cloud platforms such as Google Cloud Platform (GCP) using Skaffold. You'll also create CI/CD pipelines for your cloud-native apps with Skaffold. Although the examples covered in this book are written in Java and Spring Boot, the techniques can be applied to apps built using other technologies too.

By the end of this Skaffold book, you'll develop skills that will help accelerate your inner development loop and be able to build and deploy your apps to the Kubernetes cluster with Skaffold.

What you will learn

• Overcome challenges faced while working in an inner development loop using Skaffold
• Accelerate your development workflow using Skaffold
• Understand Skaffold's architecture, internal working, and supported CLI commands
• Build and deploy containers to Kubernetes using the Skaffold CLI and Cloud Code
• Deploy Spring Boot applications to fully managed Kubernetes services such as Google Kubernetes Engine using Skaffold
• Explore best practices for developing an app with Skaffold
• Avoid common pitfalls when developing cloud-native apps with Skaffold in Kubernetes

Who this book is for

Cloud-native application developers, software engineers working with Kubernetes, and DevOps professionals who are looking for a solution to simplify and improve their software development life cycle will find this book useful. Beginner-level knowledge of Docker, Kubernetes, and the container ecosystem is required to get started with this book.

Table of Contents

1. Code, Build, Test, and Repeat – The Application Development Inner Loop
2. Developing Cloud-Native Applications with Kubernetes – A Developer’s Nightmare
3. Skaffold – Easy-Peasy Cloud-Native Kubernetes Application Development
4. Understanding Skaffold's Features and Architecture
5. Installing Skaffold and Demystifying Its Pipeline Stages
6. Working with Skaffold Container Image Builders and Deployers
7. Building and Deploying a Spring Boot Application with the Cloud Code Plugin
8. Deploying a Spring Boot Application to Google Kubernetes Engine Using Skaffold
9. Creating a Production-Ready CI/CD Pipeline with Skaffold
10. Exploring Skaffold Alternatives, Best Practices, and Pitfalls

Ashish Choudhary is a software engineer and has over 10 years of experience in the IT industry. He has experience in designing, developing, and deploying web applications.His technical expertise includes Java, Spring Boot, Docker, Kubernetes, IMDG, distributed systems, microservices, DevOps, the cloud, and the general software development life cycle. He is an active blogger and technical writer. He has delivered talks to some renowned conferences such as GitHub Satelite India and Fosdem. He is also a strong advocate of open source technologies. He has been contributing to various open source projects for quite some time. Ashish believes in continuous learning and knowledge sharing.