DevOps Tools Introduction #02: Modern Software Development

The DevOps world never stands still — and neither does the Linux Professional Institute (LPI). With the release of the DevOps Tools Engineer certification version 2.0, LPI has aligned the exam with what professionals are actually using in production today: containerization, cloud-native architectures, and modern development practices. In this article, we’ll walk together through the updated first objective, 701.1: Modern Software Development, helping you build a clear mental map for your studies and your real-world work.

Even with all these changes, one thing remains constant: strong software engineering fundamentals still matter. Objective 701.1, which carries a weight of 6, expects you to design solutions that truly fit modern runtime environments. That means understanding how services handle data, sessions, security, performance, scalability, and reliability — not in theory, but in practical, distributed systems.

The Architectural Foundation: Services, Microservices, and Cloud-Native Design

Modern application design is deeply shaped by service-oriented and cloud-native principles. Version 2.0 places strong emphasis on service-based architectures, including Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and, more specifically, microservices.

If you want to deepen your architectural understanding, Martin Fowler’s work is an excellent reference point. He and his co-authors offer articles on application architectures, SOA and microservices, immutable servers, and monoliths and coupling as well as the importance of loose coupling — all concepts that appear implicitly throughout the exam objectives. The new version of the certification should show a clear expectation that you can design software meant to run inside containers and operate naturally in cloud environments. This reflects a real industry shift away from tightly coupled, monolithic systems.

At the same time, the exam recognizes reality: Legacy systems still exist. The exam now explicitly calls for an awareness of the risks involved in migrating and integrating legacy monolithic software. This is a practical acknowledgment of the challenges many organizations face, requiring a strategic approach to modernization that balances innovation with stability.

Embracing Cloud-Native and Container-First Development

One of the most important updates in version 2.0 of the certification is the explicit focus on cloud-native and container-first design. This is not just about deploying applications to the cloud — it is about building software that takes advantage of elasticity, automation, and distributed infrastructure, and about demonstrating the skills required to design software that runs in containers and is deployed to cloud services. These skills go beyond simply using the cloud as a hosting environment; they also include architecting applications to exploit the full power of the cloud’s dynamic and distributed nature.

According to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), cloud-native technologies enable organizations to build scalable applications in dynamic environments such as public, private, and hybrid clouds. In practice, this means applications that are containerized, dynamically orchestrated, and built around microservices.

Designing for containers requires stateless services and immutability. Each container should ideally do one job, be easy to replace, and scale horizontally without friction. This mindset improves resilience, simplifies deployments, and makes automation far more effective.

APIs, Data, and State Management

In distributed systems, APIs are the glue that holds everything together. The exam continues to emphasize REST as a core architectural style and JSON as the standard data format.

Understanding RESTful principles is more than memorizing HTTP verbs. It means designing predictable, consistent interfaces that can scale and evolve. A comprehensive introduction to RESTful principles offers an excellent collection of tutorials and best practices, covering everything from the fundamental constraints of REST to practical design patterns.

Specifications such as JSON:API also help standardize how data is structured, improving interoperability between services. Additionally, jsonapi.org provides a clear specification for building APIs with JSON, illustrating how to structure requests and responses in a consistent manner.

Version 2.0 of the exam goes deeper into how applications handle data, state, and sessions. You are expected to understand data persistence, concurrency, transactions, and the challenges of running databases in distributed environments. Topics like schema updates and database migrations are especially important in continuous delivery pipelines, where change must happen safely and without downtime.

The Human Element: Agile and DevOps

DevOps is not only about tools—it is also about people, collaboration, and process. The exam reinforces the importance of agile software development for both developers and operations teams. The Manifesto for Agile Software Development remains a foundational reference, highlighting values such as collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement.

The cultural and procedural shifts are just as critical. The exam requires a firm grasp of DevOps culture for both developers and operators.

Martin Fowler’s reflections on agile and DevOps culture also provide valuable insight into how technical practices connect with organizational behavior.

One notable addition in version 2.0 is Test-Driven Development (TDD), a development process where you write a failing test case before you write the production code to pass that test. This “red-green-refactor” cycle encourages simple designs and inspires confidence. Martin Fowler’s introduction to Test-Driven Development is a great starting point to understand this disciplined approach to building high-quality software.

Aligning With Industry-Standard Tools

LPI has restructured the DevOps Tools Engineer exam to focus on technologies that have become industry standards. Tools such as Git for version control, Prometheus for monitoring, and Kubernetes for container orchestration appear later in the objectives, but they all build on the conceptual foundation introduced in 701.1.

Understanding architecture, cloud-native design, APIs, data management, and DevOps culture prepares you to use these tools effectively—not just mechanically, but strategically.

Your Primary Study Resource

While external references are extremely useful for deep learning, it is important to highlight that LPI provides official learning materials for the DevOps Tools Engineer version 2.0 exam. These materials are comprehensive, free, and aligned directly with the exam objectives. They should be your main study reference throughout your preparation journey.

In next week’s article, we’ll move forward and explore Standard Components and Platforms for Software, where these ideas become even more concrete and practical.

Good luck with your studies — and enjoy the journey.

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