Learning Resources
Cloud Deployment and CI/CD are the combined product of Semester 9. This page points at the prior modules you should revisit first, followed by a short list of validated external URLs to consult when a specific decision needs a reference.
Canonical Book Backbone
Use these canonical book routes when you need book-backed reinforcement for deployment, runtime, and release discipline:
- GitHub Actions in Action for workflow structure, automation boundaries, and CI/CD mechanics.
- Design Patterns for Cloud-Native Applications for deployment topology and cloud-native runtime tradeoffs.
- Building Secure and Reliable Systems for delivery safety, operational resilience, and release-risk thinking.
- Pro Git for release tagging, branch strategy, and change-history hygiene.
Source Stack
| Source | Role | How to use it in this module |
|---|---|---|
| S9 M01: Cloud Platform Fundamentals | Primary (cloud picking) | Revisit shared-responsibility framing before you commit to a platform |
| S9 M02: Infrastructure as Code | Primary (Terraform scope) | Revisit state, backend, and module composition before scaffolding your root |
| S9 M03: Container Orchestration | Selective (if you go container-based) | Revisit only if your topology choice is Kubernetes-shaped; otherwise skip |
| S9 M04: CI/CD Pipelines and Release Engineering | Primary (pipeline, release) | Revisit workflow anatomy, release-notes discipline, and rollback patterns |
| S9 M05: Cloud Security and Observability | Primary (OIDC, secrets, smoke) | Revisit secrets management and least-privilege for the deploy role |
| S8 M04: Scale, Reliability, Performance | Support | Revisit MTTR, zero-downtime patterns, and the cost of extra moving parts |
Resource Map by Cluster
Cluster 1: A Minimal Deployable Capstone
| Need | Best cross-semester reference | External reference |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud platform picking | S9 M01: Cloud Platform Fundamentals | GitHub Actions documentation -- confirm deploy paths exist for any candidate platform |
| Topology sizing | S8 M04: Scale, Reliability, Performance | DORA software delivery performance metrics -- understand that smaller, frequent deploys outperform large ones |
| Environment budget | S9 M04: CI/CD Pipelines and Release Engineering | DORA metrics guide -- deployment frequency depends on cheap, reliable envs |
Cluster 2: Capstone IaC
| Need | Best cross-semester reference | External reference |
|---|---|---|
| Terraform state and backend | S9 M02: Infrastructure as Code | Terraform: State -- authoritative definition of what state is |
| Module composition | S9 M02: Infrastructure as Code | Terraform: State -- the state file is the boundary that modules share |
| Secrets without sprawl | S9 M05: Cloud Security and Observability | Configuring OIDC in AWS (GitHub Docs) -- deploy role reads secrets over OIDC, not via stored keys |
Cluster 3: Capstone Pipeline
| Need | Best cross-semester reference | External reference |
|---|---|---|
| Workflow anatomy | S9 M04: CI/CD Pipelines and Release Engineering | GitHub Actions documentation -- triggers, permissions:, environment: |
| OIDC to cloud | S9 M05: Cloud Security and Observability | Configuring OIDC in AWS (GitHub Docs) |
| Preview environments | S9 M03: Container Orchestration | Preview Environments action (GitHub Marketplace) |
Cluster 4: Safe Release
| Need | Best cross-semester reference | External reference |
|---|---|---|
| Rollback criteria and timer | S8 M04: Scale, Reliability, Performance | DORA metrics guide -- time-to-restore-service is a first-class capability |
| Expand-contract migration | S9 M02: Infrastructure as Code | Expand and Contract -- Tim Wellhausen -- canonical pattern write-up |
| Feature flags | S9 M04: CI/CD Pipelines and Release Engineering | Martin Fowler: Feature Flag |
Cluster 5: Evidence of a Deployed System
| Need | Best cross-semester reference | External reference |
|---|---|---|
| Smoke tests in prod | S9 M05: Cloud Security and Observability | Google SRE: Testing for Reliability |
| Release notes | S9 M04: CI/CD Pipelines and Release Engineering | DORA metrics guide -- deploys are logged, not remembered |
| Runbook discipline | S9 M04: CI/CD Pipelines and Release Engineering | Google SRE: Testing for Reliability -- runbook "verify" section is the production-probe surface |
Use Rules
- If you are stuck on a concept, go to the S9 or S8 module listed above first. Those are the texts you already read this degree.
- If you are stuck on an operational question (what does this field do, what is the exact setting), open the external URL from the concept page.
- Do not binge documentation. Open one URL for one question.
- If rereading does not fix the problem, stop and write the smallest version of the question you cannot answer. Paste it into your mistake log. Only then open another page.
Required evidence extension
Complete Capstone clean-room release evidence and its assessment. The 20–30-hour package is integrated with the original labs; use the semester workload contract for totals.