5 best practices for cloud-native software development
Cloud-native applications offer a wide range of benefits to organizations that want to outrun their competition, from granular scalability to efficient use of resources. However, such applications can be challenging to manage and secure. Developers should adhere to industry best practices when developing cloud-native apps to minimize these risks and maximize the advantages.
The better your cloud-native development process, the more efficient and reliable your application will be. Here are 5 proven best practices we apply at Rumble Fish to improve our software delivery process and build resilient, scalable cloud-native applications.
Table of contents:
1. Consider vendor lock-in
2. Choose the right design pattern
3. Build in security right from the start
4. Pick tools with multi-cloud in mind
5. Empower your team
1. Consider vendor lock-in
Cloud-native apps should be designed to run on any infrastructure, whether public or private clouds, bare metal servers, and containers. To achieve this cloud-native benefit of portability, avoid services that tie your application to a specific cloud vendor. Suppose your app doesn’t depend on a particular vendor’s service or feature in its environment to operate. In that case, you’ll be able to move it painlessly to another service if the need arises.
Likewise, steer clear of PaaS products that let developers build and deploy an app only to a particular cloud or type of host environment. For example, if you choose to run a cloud-native app using Kubernetes, design it so that it can run in any Kubernetes environment, not just the managed Kubernetes services like Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS).
2. Choose the right design pattern
Cloud-native applications are designed differently from traditional applications. For example, Microsoft lists 10 distinct patterns developers can use in conjunction with other patterns.
The most commonly used patterns in cloud-native design include:
- Sidecar — the main application runs as one set of services, while additional functionality such as monitoring tools runs alongside it as a sidecar.
- Event-driven — an application that responds to specific events instead of continuously running functions.
- CQRS (Command and Query Responsibility Segregation) — this pattern separates an application’s write operations from its read operations. This pattern is a good match for high-availability applications where only certain sections of an application may modify data.
- Gatekeeper — a single public-facing instance that serves as a gateway that forwards requests to other privately hosted instances. Teams can use this pattern in security-conscious applications as it reduces exposure to the internet.
3. Build in security right from the start
Organizations need policies to protect authentication, authorization, and data storage to ensure security when building cloud-native applications. These can include guidance for planning secure application authentication, implementing authentication within the development process, and preventing developers from building any business functionality and tackling authentication later.
Teams should also plan to maximize the security of application data. This includes data stored inside the application as well as data housed externally — for example, in an object storage service. Also, remember to implement data encryption and access control features across all storage locations.
4. Pick tools with multi-cloud in mind
In a Gartner survey of public cloud users, 81% of respondents said they work with two or more providers. Cloud-native initiatives take place in this highly varied landscape, and DevOps tools are available from on-premises providers and as part of larger public cloud platforms.
Many teams opt to use the cloud provider that offers the most comprehensive set of DevOps tools because it’s much easier than having to integrate several different tools. However, this approach may lead to vendor lock-in. If you’re locked into a single cloud provider, you’re limiting your ability to leverage different public or private clouds depending on your needs.
So, when choosing your DevOps tools, keep the potential multi-cloud future of your organization in mind.
5. Empower your team
The AWS Products Not Projects concept encourages teams to take responsibility for the entire application lifecycle. This approach is in line with modern software development practices, where testing, integration, and deployment are automated and smooth.
Cloud-native development initiatives benefit significantly from this type of setup because it gives teams complete ownership, fosters creativity, motivates them, and creates a risk-taking culture in an environment of trust.
Reliable full-stack developers don’t grow on trees! How to create a dream team for your next project
Cloud-native applications are here to stay. If you want your app to be compatible and up to date, you should consider specific practices for cloud-based app development. Naturally, before choosing top-notch practices, you should consider multiple factors, one of which is your team.
At Rumble Fish, we hunt down the most talented developers on the market, hone their skills via dedicated training, and verify their expertise before assigning them to new projects. By partnering with us, you’re guaranteed to get a team of experts who can help you craft a cloud-native application using modern tech stack and industry best practices.
