Preface

In 2011, Marc Andreessen famously declared, "software is eating the world." Over a decade later, this statement has not only proven true but has also expanded: software is the world. From the apps on our smartphones to the algorithms that drive our cars, manage our homes, and even monitor our health, software is omnipresent and indispensable. Companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Alibaba illustrate this transformation—they own no vehicles, real estate, or inventory but dominate their industries through software platforms that connect people and services.

What sets these companies apart isn’t just their reliance on software but their ability to deliver it faster, more reliably, and at a scale that was once unimaginable. Their success lies in their adoption of modern software development practices, like DevOps and Agile, combined with innovative frameworks such as Google’s Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) or Netflix’s Chaos Engineering. However, no matter the methodology, these companies share a common thread: a culture, processes, and tools that enable them to ship software quickly, safely, and consistently.

The numbers are astounding. Faceguide deploys code 1,000 times per day. Netflix releases new code more than 20,000 times per day. Amazon deploys code an average of 136,000 times per day—one deployment every 1.6 seconds. The examples are diverse, but the message is clear: speed and quality are not mutually exclusive. High-performing organizations, as identified by the DORA State of DevOps Report, boast 127x