When people ask me how to start learning DevOps or Cloud, I always say the same thing:
“First, build a simple three-tier web app — even if it’s just a Hello World.”
And they usually look confused.
“Why? I want to be a DevOps engineer, not a web developer.”
I get it — I said the same thing once.
How I Started
I began my career as a backend-focused web developer.
I spent my days writing APIs, debugging weird server errors, and figuring out why that one endpoint suddenly returned 500 after deploying.
Eventually, I moved into DevOps and Cloud Engineering — and that’s when I realized how much my development background saved me.
Because here’s the truth:
You can become a DevOps engineer without learning web development — but you’ll never be an impactful one until you understand why things are built the way they are.
The “Why” Behind the Tools
A lot of new DevOps learners jump straight into Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, or AWS.
They follow the roadmaps, memorize commands, spin up clusters — and then hit a wall.
Because when something breaks, they have no clue whether it’s an app problem, a config issue, or an architectural flaw.
They know how to deploy, but not what they’re actually deploying.
That’s what I call the “tooler trap” — knowing tools, but not the system.
A Simple 3-Tier App Can Teach You Everything
You don’t need to build a full SaaS to understand the ecosystem.
Just develop a 3-tier Hello World app:
- Frontend: even a static page with a button
- Backend: a small API that returns “Hello, world”
- Database: maybe a single table or record
Then deploy it.
Host the backend somewhere, connect it to the DB, expose an endpoint, and open it in a browser.
That process alone will teach you how data flows, where bottlenecks form, and why infrastructure matters.
Once you see that flow end-to-end, every DevOps concept — CI/CD, load balancing, monitoring, scaling — starts making sense, not just noise.
Real DevOps Is About Solving Problems, Not Running Pipelines
A “tooler” can build a Jenkins pipeline or deploy to AWS.
A real DevOps engineer can look at a system and ask,
“Why is this deployment taking 8 minutes?”
“Why is our API timing out?”
“Why does our architecture break under load?”
Those questions can’t be answered without understanding the application layer.
If you’ve never built or debugged a web app, you’ll miss the reasoning behind every DevOps decision.
DevOps is not about using tools — it’s about solving the pain developers face every day.
And you can’t fix pain you’ve never felt.
My Advice
If you’re new and aiming for DevOps or Cloud:
- Yes, learn the tools. But first, build something that uses them.
- Yes, you can skip web dev — but then you’ll miss the “why” that makes DevOps meaningful.
- Start small. A simple 3-tier Hello World will teach you more than any crash course on Terraform or Kubernetes ever could.
Because once you understand why developers struggle, every automation you create will have purpose — not just pipelines.
Final Thoughts
DevOps isn’t just a stack of tools; it’s a mindset built on understanding how software works, from code to customer.
You don’t have to become a full-stack developer — but you should at least experience the stack once.
Otherwise, you’ll always stay a tooler, not an engineer — busy setting up systems that solve no real problems.
And that’s not DevOps. That’s just decoration.
📬 Contact
If you’d like to connect, collaborate, or discuss DevOps, feel free to reach out:
- Website: hasan-ashab
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hasan-ashab