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A cloud-native environment enables you to build and run scalable applications on public, private, and hybrid clouds. In this article, we answer the question: What does cloud-native mean? We also break down how cloud-native environments benefit chip design.

Cloud-native describes a development environment that includes services packaged in containers and deployed as microservices. These services are managed on elastic infrastructure using agile DevOps processes and continuous delivery workflows.

In combination with robust automation, a cloud-native environment allows engineers to make high-impact changes frequently and predictably.

Key Elements of a Cloud-Native Environment

Cloud-native environments contain several important elements.

Microservices

Microservices allow you to build large applications as modular components. They sit at the heart of cloud-native application architecture. Every microservice executes a different function, such as implementing capabilities, communicating, or running processes.

Generally, microservices are loosely coupled, meaning they operate independently. As a result, app developers can modify a microservice or small group of microservices without updating the entire application.

Containerization

Containers allow you to virtually isolate applications for deployment. Often, microservices are packaged into containers, so developers can limit work and keep changes to microservices in a single container. Containers prevent applications from consuming an entire host's shared resources. They also allow for multiple instances of the same application to run simultaneously.

The goal of containers is to ensure that software runs reliably in different computing environments. Typically, the container would run from: 

1. a developer's laptop to a test environment,
2. a staging environment to production,
3. a physical machine to a virtual machine.

DevOps

A DevOps team uses philosophies, practices, and tools to help deliver apps and services at high speeds. With DevOps, companies can evolve and improve their products faster than if they used traditional software development and infrastructure management processes. As a result, organizations better serve their customers and compete more effectively.

With cloud-native, there is no longer a siloed development and operations team. In fact, it is not uncommon for these two teams to merge into one team. These engineers work together on the entire application lifecycle, from development and testing to deployment to operations.

Continuous Delivery

With continuous delivery (CD), you can complete coding and testing in short but continuous cycles. Following the build stage, CD allows the deployment of all code changes to a testing or production environment. 

CD allows developers to automate testing beyond unit tests to verify updates to applications across multiple dimensions before releasing them. Testing may include the user interface, load, integration, application programming interface, and reliability tests. This process helps developers validate updates more thoroughly and locate issues earlier. In the cloud, it is easier to create and replicate multiple environments for testing than it is on-premises.