6 Continuous Delivery Books That Separate Experts from Amateurs

Jez Humble and David Farley's extensive experience in software development culminates in this detailed exploration of accelerating software delivery through automation and collaboration. You’ll gain insights into implementing deployment pipelines that manage code changes from check-in to release, automating build, test, and deployment processes to reduce risk and increase speed. The book dives deeply into infrastructure management, configuration strategies, and testing automation, making it particularly useful if you're involved in development, operations, or testing. It doesn’t just theorize but offers practical frameworks like automated acceptance testing and zero-downtime releases, helping you understand not just what to do, but how to adapt these practices to your organization’s scale and complexity.

When Laura Bell and her co-authors first recognized the friction between agile development and traditional security, they set out to close that gap with this guide. You’ll learn how to weave security into every phase of your development pipeline—from planning and requirements to coding and testing—without slowing down releases. The book shares concrete methods for embedding security practices directly into agile and DevOps workflows, including regulatory compliance and fostering a collaborative culture. If you’re a developer, security professional, or team lead struggling to integrate security seamlessly in fast-paced environments, this book offers clear insights drawn from real-world challenges and solutions.

This personalized book explores tailored techniques for building reliable and fast software deployment pipelines that align with your unique background and goals. It examines key concepts in continuous delivery, including automation and pipeline acceleration, focusing specifically on areas you want to master. By addressing your specific interests, this book reveals practical approaches to streamline deployments and reduce failures, making complex expert knowledge accessible and relevant. This tailored guide also covers integrating testing, deployment automation, and pipeline optimization to help you enhance software delivery performance. By focusing on your needs, it supports a deeper understanding of continuous delivery principles through a customized learning path.

What started as Rafał Leszko's extensive work with leading tech organizations became a guide for integrating Docker and Jenkins in continuous delivery pipelines. You gain hands-on insights into setting up Docker servers, configuring Jenkins, and orchestrating scalable environments using Kubernetes and Terraform. The book walks you through building microservices, automating tests with Cucumber, and managing infrastructure as code, offering concrete examples like scaling Jenkins clusters and deploying Docker images effectively. If you’re a DevOps engineer or system administrator eager to deepen your practical skills in CI/CD processes, this book offers a grounded, skills-focused exploration without unnecessary complexity.

Gerardus Blokdyk approaches continuous delivery from a diagnostic and self-assessment perspective rather than a traditional textbook format. He equips you with targeted questions designed to uncover the unique challenges your organization faces in adopting continuous delivery principles and tools. Throughout the book, you’ll explore frameworks for evaluating maturity levels and identifying areas for improvement, such as continuous testing integration and automation pitfalls. This guide suits managers, consultants, and technical leaders who want to lead with insight and ensure their continuous delivery initiatives align with strategic goals, rather than those seeking prescriptive implementation steps.

What started as Henry van Merode's deep involvement in automating software supply chains evolved into a focused guide on pipeline development in continuous integration and delivery. You learn how to approach pipelines with the same rigor as application code—from requirements analysis to monitoring—addressing common pitfalls like misaligned workflows and pipeline security. The book includes over 60 specific CI/CD requirements and detailed strategies for branching, building, testing, releasing, and deploying, alongside unit testing examples and performance troubleshooting. If you're a DevOps engineer or architect looking to refine pipeline design and implementation, this book provides concrete frameworks and real-world code illustrations to elevate your CI/CD practices.

This tailored book explores the essential steps and techniques for rapidly implementing effective continuous delivery pipelines. It covers the nuances of designing, building, and optimizing CI/CD workflows to accelerate software deployment while maintaining reliability. By focusing on your specific background and goals, it reveals how to navigate the complexities of pipeline automation and integration with practical, targeted guidance. The personalized content draws from a wide range of expert knowledge, refining it into actionable steps that match your experience level and interests. Whether enhancing existing pipelines or starting anew, this book offers a clear path to streamlining your delivery processes with confidence and precision.

The breakthrough moment came when Mohamed Labouardy, a DevSecOps evangelist and Jenkins contributor, recognized the need to treat CI/CD pipelines as mission-critical applications. In this book, you’ll gain hands-on expertise in building and automating Jenkins clusters, writing pipeline code for cloud-native apps, and deploying containerized and serverless applications with tools like Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform. Labouardy also walks you through managing Jenkins at scale across AWS, GCP, and Azure, while embedding key DevOps cultural principles. If you're comfortable with Jenkins and Docker and want a practical, code-driven approach to continuous delivery, this book will expand your skills significantly, though it’s best suited for those ready to engage deeply with infrastructure-as-code.