Intro to Cloud Native, Microservices, Containers, & Agile

IBM via Coursera

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Overview

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Over 80% of enterprises now rely on cloud-native technologies to drive innovation and scale efficiently (CNCF). Professionals with cloud-native, microservices, and DevOps skills are highly sought after! This course equips both aspiring and experienced professionals with the practical, job-ready expertise employers are looking for. During the course, you’ll explore cloud-native fundamentals, including hybrid cloud infrastructures and modernization strategies. Plus, you'll gain hands-on experience mastering RESTful APIs, CI/CD pipelines, and Agile and Scrum practices that enhance collaboration and delivery. The course also covers essential containerization concepts for using Docker and Kubernetes, ensuring you can build scalable and resilient applications. Plus, through interactive labs and real-world projects, you'll develop the technical skills and confidence to apply these practices effectively in professional environments. By the end, you'll have the expertise to build scalable cloud-native applications, automate development workflows, and align technical solutions with business objectives. If you’re keen to open up exciting career opportunities in cloud, enroll today!

Syllabus

Cloud Native Applications

This module will begin with some fundamental cloud concepts. Then, you'll get into specific tools and techniques for creating cloud native applications. You will also learn about the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, the importance of hybrid cloud infrastructures, and how they affect cloud app developers. Further, you'll look at two important aspects of cloud thinking: modernization and continuous integration/continuous delivery.

Mastering Microservices with REST and API Gateways

In this module, you’ll explore best practices for creating and operating microservices, learning how to design, deploy, and scale them independently while avoiding single points of failure. You’ll also gain insight into common anti-patterns to avoid in a microservices-based architecture. Next, you’ll dive into the REST architecture—understanding its flexibility, uniformity, and scalability—and create your first REST-based API using Java. You’ll learn to document and test it using Swagger, cURL, and Postman, and discover how API Gateways can abstract the backend to easily plug in additional services.

Containers and Containerization

In this module, you’ll explore the foundational concepts of container technology, focusing on Docker’s architecture and tools. You’ll learn how containers streamline software development by isolating environments, making it easier to build, run, and manage applications. Through hands-on labs and readings, you’ll gain practical experience creating Docker images, working with Docker objects, and deploying containers using IBM Cloud Container Registry. You’ll also examine how Docker integrates with Kubernetes, setting the stage for more advanced container orchestration in subsequent lessons.

DevOps & CI/CD

In this module, you will begin by discovering how adopting a DevOps culture will aid in the collaboration of development and operations engineers throughout the development lifecycle. Then, you’ll experiment with different ways of working, such as using test-driven and behavior-driven development techniques to ensure repeatable behavior and high code quality. Test-driven development (TDD) allows you to develop more quickly and confidently. In contrast, Behavior Driven Development (BDD) tests the system’s behavior from the outside and ensures that it behaves as intended. You’ll then see how implementing Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery practices guarantees that every change contributes to a potentially shippable feature. You will also learn about the fundamental DevOps and CI/CD tools developers use worldwide. Further, you’ll discover why empowering people to do their best work contributes to the organizational DevOps goal of achieving a shared mindset and empowering everyone to deliver customer value.

Agile & Scrum

This module will introduce you to Agile philosophy and principles. You'll learn about Scrum as a framework for applying Agile principles to software project management. You'll also learn more about Agile iterative planning, how businesses can use Agile to organize for success, and how team alignment and autonomy help develop better systems. You'll also learn how to create and refine a product backlog, write compelling user stories, estimate and assign story points, and plan a sprint. Finally, you'll discover how to conduct sprint reviews and retrospectives.

Guided Project, Final Assessment, and Course Wrap-Up

The module includes a final project lab that consolidates all the concepts covered throughout the course, giving you practical, hands-on experience in applying what you’ve learned. Additionally, you’ll attempt an AI-graded quiz designed to test and reinforce your understanding of these concepts. The AI-driven system evaluates your responses in real time, providing immediate feedback on both correctness and completeness.