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The DevOps Lifecycle (Plan-Code-Build-Test-Release-Deploy-Operate-Monitor)

In short

Old-school software went in a straight line and ended at launch day. DevOps draws it as a loop that never ends: what you learn from users today decides what you build tomorrow.

The continuous, looping set of stages software moves through — unlike a traditional linear release cycle, DevOps treats this as an infinite loop where monitoring feeds back into planning.

The mascot as a farmer walks a circular path through a field, from seeds to sprouts to a full harvest basket.

Think of it like this

A farmer's crop season

A farmer plans what to sow, prepares the field, plants, checks for pests, harvests, sells at the mandi, then sees which crop earned well. That learning shapes next season's plan. The cycle never stops, and each season gets a little smarter.

Watch it happen

One lap of the loop

Plan

Code

Build/Test

Release

Operate

Monitor

1/6Plan: the team picks a small feature, like adding UPI to checkout, and writes clear tickets.

The big ideas

What you need to know

It is a loop, not a line

The famous infinity-shaped diagram means there is no finish line. Monitoring always feeds the next round of planning.

Automate the middle

Build, test, release and deploy should run by pipeline, so humans spend time on planning and fixing real problems.

Short laps win

A loop that takes one day teaches you more than one that takes three months. Small batches keep laps short.

Same team, every stage

The people who planned and coded the feature also see its monitoring graphs. No handing it off and forgetting.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Treating Monitor as the last stage, where the work ends.

Do this instead

Monitor is where the next lap starts. Real user data should change what gets planned next.

Oops

Automating deploy but still testing by hand for a week before each release.

Do this instead

The loop is only as fast as its slowest stage. Automate testing too, or it becomes the bottleneck.

Your mission

Draw your own loop

~15 min

Quick check

Why is the DevOps lifecycle drawn as an infinity loop?

Go deeper

1Diagram the DevOps lifecycle as a loop, not a straight line, and label each stage.
2Identify which stage a specific tool from this roadmap (e.g. Terraform, Jenkins) primarily supports.
3Learn why 'monitor' feeding back into 'plan' is the key idea that makes this a loop, not a pipeline.