Returning from my stint in the United States, I was fueled by a newfound desire to broaden my horizons. Despite the timezone differences limiting client interactions, I sought opportunities to contribute in different capacities within the R&D team. Volunteering to assist BR, a senior team member, with deployments marked the beginning of a transformative journey into the realm of release management techniques.
At this juncture, release management at the company lacked a structured process. However, BR, the driving force behind the releases, had a bash script that partially automated certain tasks. Despite my lack of experience with bash scripting, I dove headfirst into the process during our initial releases. The real challenge, though, lay in the fact that we were working directly on the production environment — an environment where any misstep could have significant consequences.
The infrastructure presented its own challenges. With bare-metal servers hosting virtualized environments and load-balanced web apps across six servers, the stakes were high. The database, operating on a single server, intensified the potential impact of any errors. With 100+ clients, each with their unique configurations, the upgrade process consumed an entire day, necessitating weekend releases—an approach inconceivable in today’s fast-paced environment.
In the face of complexity, an opportunity emerged. Working closer with BR, I embarked on a journey of learning bash scripting, delving deeper into SQL and PL/SQL, and automating release tasks. With time and continuous improvement of the release scripts, the initial full-day releases were transformed into a streamlined process, reducing release times to a matter of hours.
I owe a debt of gratitude to BR for his openness and willingness to mentor me in the early days of release management. His guidance allowed me to gain a holistic understanding of the application ecosystem, from key dependencies to custom client configurations. This broader perspective not only enhanced my proficiency in coding but also fostered a mindset that extended beyond the confines of individual Jira tickets.
Navigating the intricate web of our application’s infrastructure, with its diverse configurations and dependencies, became a catalyst for improved performance in my developer role. Understanding how each part functions as a component of a larger engine, rather than isolated entities, elevated my ability to write more effective code. This experience underscored the invaluable lesson that a holistic view of the ecosystem enhances one’s proficiency in the current role and sets the stage for future successes. Looking ahead, I am excited to continue applying these insights to drive further innovation and efficiency.