Techsplainers by IBM

This episode of Techsplainers explores continuous testing—a critical component of modern software development that integrates automated feedback throughout the development lifecycle. Host Dan explains how continuous testing works alongside CI/CD pipelines to accelerate development while maintaining quality. The episode breaks down various testing methodologies including shift-left, shift-right, smoke tests, unit testing, integration testing, and more. Listeners will learn how continuous testing helps teams identify errors early, reduce costs, and improve user experiences through automation. The episode also addresses the unique challenges of testing in today's distributed, multi-region IT systems and explains how continuous testing frameworks provide consistency across modules, connectors, platforms, and infrastructure to ensure reliable results.Find more information at https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/techsplainers Narrated by Dan Segal

This episode of Techsplainers explores continuous delivery, the software development practice that automates the movement of code changes through testing and eventual release into production. We examine how continuous delivery transforms traditional infrequent, high-risk software releases into smaller, regular updates that can be deployed quickly and reliably. The podcast details key benefits, including reduced deployment time, decreased costs, improved scalability, and automated code deployment through development phases. We cover essential best practices such as making every change releasable, embracing trunk-based development, building automated pipelines, and aiming for zero-downtime deployments. The episode also clarifies the important distinction between continuous delivery (which prepares code for release with manual approval) and continuous deployment (which automatically releases code to production). Finally, we discuss how continuous delivery integrates with Agile and DevOps methodologies to create more efficient, reliable software development processes.Find more information at https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/techsplainers Narrated by Dan Segal

This episode of Techsplainers explores continuous integration (CI), a fundamental software development practice where developers regularly merge code changes into a central repository. We explain how CI works by automatically building and testing code with each submission, dramatically improving upon traditional development, where infrequent integrations caused painful conflicts and delays. The podcast covers key CI components, including central repositories, CI servers, and automated testing suites, while highlighting how testing forms the backbone of effective CI implementations. We distinguish between continuous integration, delivery, and deployment in the CI/CD pipeline, and examine CI's critical role in both DevOps and agile methodologies. The episode concludes by detailing CI's main benefits: earlier error detection, improved team collaboration, accelerated development cycles, and reduced risk through incremental changes.Find more information at: https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/techsplainersNarrated by Dan Segal

This episode of Techsplainers explores the key benefits of DevOps methodology and how it's transforming software development and delivery. We examine five major advantages: better collaboration between development and operations teams, accelerated delivery through microservices and CI/CD pipelines, greater reliability via automated testing, quicker scaling capabilities, and enhanced security with DevSecOps practices. The podcast also covers essential DevOps tools, including version control systems, containerization platforms, and monitoring solutions that enable automation throughout the software lifecycle. We discuss how DevOps complements Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) to balance rapid development with system reliability, and explore how AI is boosting DevOps productivity through improved troubleshooting, security, monitoring, and testing. Finally, we look at emerging trends shaping the future of DevOps, including platform engineering, observability, and low-code/no-code development.Find more information at: https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/techsplainersNarrated by Dan Segal

This episode of Techsplainers introduces DevOps, explaining how this approach revolutionized software development by breaking down traditional silos between development and operations teams. The discussion traces DevOps' evolution from agile methodologies and CI/CD practices, detailing the eight core steps of the DevOps lifecycle: planning, coding, building, testing, release, deployment, operation, and monitoring. We explore how organizations implement DevOps through both technical workflows and cultural transformation, emphasizing automation, collaboration, and continuous feedback. The episode also addresses DevSecOps and how integrating security throughout the development process leads to more secure applications. We highlight real-world benefits of DevOps adoption, including faster delivery cycles, higher quality software, improved team collaboration, and better security posture, while acknowledging the challenges of implementation. Whether you're new to DevOps or looking to optimize existing practices, this episode provides valuable insights into this essential approach to modern software development.Find more information at https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/techsplainersNarrated by Dan Segal