8 Continuous Deployment Books That Accelerate Your Expertise

Discover 8 Continuous Deployment Books written by leading experts like Billy Yuen, Jez Humble, and Christie Wilson, crafted to elevate your software delivery practice.

Updated on June 27, 2025
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What if transforming your software deployment process could shrink release cycles from weeks to mere hours? Continuous Deployment isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a vital practice reshaping how teams deliver value with speed and reliability. As organizations demand faster, safer releases, mastering continuous deployment strategies has never been more critical.

These 8 books, authored by engineers and strategists from top tech companies like Google, Intuit, and CloudBees, offer authoritative and actionable insights. From Jez Humble’s foundational automation techniques to Billy Yuen’s deep dive into Kubernetes GitOps, these works combine real-world experience with proven methodologies to enhance your deployment pipelines.

While these expert-curated books provide proven frameworks, readers seeking content tailored to their specific background, goals, or preferred tools might consider creating a personalized Continuous Deployment book that builds on these insights, delivering a uniquely targeted learning experience.

Best for mastering GitOps with Kubernetes
Billy Yuen, a principal engineer at Intuit with experience building highly scalable edge infrastructure at Netflix, authored this book to share his expertise in AWS and Kubernetes adoption. His background in system resiliency and monitoring informs the practical guidance on GitOps methodology to manage Kubernetes clusters efficiently. This book distills his experience into accessible techniques, helping you adopt GitOps with confidence using tools like Argo CD and Jenkins X.
GitOps and Kubernetes: Continuous Deployment with Argo CD, Jenkins X, and Flux book cover

by Billy Yuen, Alexander Matyushentsev, Todd Ekenstam, Jesse Suen··You?

2021·344 pages·Continuous Deployment, DevOps, Kubernetes, GitOps, Pipeline Automation

Billy Yuen and his coauthors, all principal engineers at Intuit, bring deep, hands-on expertise from projects involving AWS, Kubernetes, and large-scale edge services. This book teaches you how to manage Kubernetes infrastructure using GitOps—the practice of treating infrastructure as code with Git pull requests driving deployments. You'll gain practical skills like handling secrets securely, managing access control, and implementing effective deployment pipelines with tools like Argo CD and Jenkins X, supported by concrete examples spanning environment management and observability. This book is ideal if you already know continuous delivery basics and want to master GitOps to improve deployment reliability and team collaboration.

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Best for foundational deployment automation strategies
Jez Humble brings 20 years of software engineering and product development experience across government and industry to this work. As a co-author of multiple acclaimed DevOps books and a Google site reliability engineer, he distills proven methods for automating software releases. His background teaching agile software engineering and product management at UC Berkeley adds depth to the practical insights here, equipping you to deliver software reliably and rapidly.

While working as a software engineer and consultant, Jez Humble recognized how slow and error-prone software releases stalled innovation. He developed this book to expose how automating build, test, and deployment processes can shrink release cycles from weeks or months to mere hours. You’ll dive into deployment pipelines, automated infrastructure management, and strategies for coordinating developers, testers, and operations to safely deliver updates at scale. This is ideal if you're involved in software delivery and want to reduce risk while accelerating release frequency, especially in complex or large projects.

2011 Jolt Excellence Award
Published by Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc
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Best for personalized deployment plans
This AI-created book on continuous deployment is crafted based on your background, skill level, and specific interests. You share which areas of deployment you want to focus on and your goals, and the book is written to cover exactly what you need. Personalization means your learning experience isn’t generic but tailored to help you navigate continuous deployment complexities relevant to your work and aspirations.
2025·50-300 pages·Continuous Deployment, Pipeline Design, Release Management, Automation Tools, Deployment Strategies

This tailored book explores the nuances of continuous deployment, focusing on your unique background and goals to create a learning experience that truly resonates. It covers essential continuous deployment concepts, best practices, and the integration of tools, all matched to your specific needs. By examining key processes such as pipeline design, automation, and release management, it offers a clear path through the complexities of modern software delivery. This personalized approach ensures you engage deeply with the material that matters most to your workflow and objectives, making the journey toward mastering continuous deployment both effective and relevant.

Tailored Guide
Deployment Optimization
1,000+ Happy Readers
Best for hands-on CI/CD pipeline builders
Rafał Leszko is a seasoned software developer and tech leader with experience at Google, CERN, and Hazelcast. His passion for coding and architecture shines through in this book, where he translates complex CI/CD concepts into accessible guidance. Leszko’s background as a conference speaker and trainer informs the clear, structured approach he takes to explain Docker, Jenkins, Kubernetes, and infrastructure automation, making the content approachable for DevOps professionals seeking to deepen their expertise.

What started as Rafał Leszko's journey through complex software environments became a detailed guide to mastering continuous delivery using Docker and Jenkins. Drawing on his experience with companies like Google and CERN, Leszko walks you through setting up Docker servers, integrating Jenkins pipelines, and scaling operations with Kubernetes. You’ll learn not only how to automate deployment but also how to handle infrastructure provisioning with tools like Ansible and Terraform, plus testing strategies including acceptance tests with Cucumber. This book suits DevOps engineers and system administrators aiming to enhance their CI/CD pipelines with practical, hands-on techniques grounded in real-world workflows.

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Best for advanced Kubernetes deployment techniques
Viktor Farcic is a Principal Software Delivery Strategist and Developer Advocate at CloudBees, recognized among the Google Developer Experts and Docker Captains. His deep involvement in DevOps, containers, Kubernetes, and CI/CD, combined with his experience as an author and speaker, positions him uniquely to guide you through the complexities of Kubernetes. This book reflects his commitment to empowering professionals to confidently manage Kubernetes clusters and navigate the evolving landscape of continuous deployment.
The DevOps 2.3 Toolkit book cover

by Viktor Farcic··You?

Viktor Farcic, with his extensive experience as a Principal Software Delivery Strategist at CloudBees and active contributions to the DevOps community, wrote this book to demystify Kubernetes for professionals ready to deepen their deployment skills. You’ll explore everything from core concepts to advanced Kubernetes features, including third-party tools that extend its functionality, illustrated with hands-on examples designed to build practical confidence. The book targets those comfortable with container basics who want to master running Kubernetes clusters at scale and handling real-world operational challenges. Expect to engage deeply with the content, using your terminal as a companion, to truly understand what it takes to manage production-grade continuous deployment environments.

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Best for strategic delivery process assessments
Gerardus Blokdyk is a renowned author known for his comprehensive guides on various business topics, including Continuous Delivery. His works are widely recognized for their practical insights and self-assessment tools that empower professionals to enhance their organizational processes. With a focus on asking the right questions, Blokdyk's books serve as essential resources for managers, consultants, and leaders aiming to implement effective strategies in their fields.
2021·312 pages·Continuous Delivery, Continuous Deployment, DevOps, Process Improvement, Self-Assessment

Gerardus Blokdyk brings his extensive experience in business process improvement to this guide, focusing on the critical role of asking insightful questions in Continuous Delivery adoption. Instead of offering a traditional textbook, the book presents a self-assessment framework designed to help you diagnose challenges and prioritize improvements within your organization's delivery pipeline. You'll explore topics such as continuous testing integration, automation pitfalls, and maturity levels of delivery practices, gaining clarity on where your team stands and what to tackle next. This book suits managers, consultants, and executives who need a structured approach to steer Continuous Delivery initiatives effectively.

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Best for rapid pipeline creation
This AI-created book on deployment pipeline automation is tailored to your skill level and goals based on your background and specific interests. You tell us which pipeline aspects you want to focus on and the pace you wish to follow, then receive a customized guide that covers exactly what you need to efficiently build and automate your deployment pipelines. Personalizing this book ensures you get focused insights that resonate with your experience, avoiding generic advice and helping you accelerate your continuous deployment mastery.
2025·50-300 pages·Continuous Deployment, Deployment Pipelines, Automation Tools, Pipeline Architecture, Continuous Integration

This tailored book explores the step-by-step actions to design, build, and automate efficient deployment pipelines that match your background and goals. It covers core concepts such as pipeline architecture, automation tools, and integration techniques, while examining how to streamline continuous deployment tailored to your specific environment. By focusing on your interests in rapid pipeline creation, this personalized guide reveals practical pathways to accelerate delivery times and improve reliability without unnecessary complexity. The content synthesizes collective knowledge into a clear, actionable progression that matches your skill level and objectives, helping you develop deployment pipelines that are both effective and maintainable.

Tailored Guide
Pipeline Automation
1,000+ Happy Readers
Best for practical pipeline design insights
Christie Wilson, a software engineer at Google with over a decade of experience, brings her expertise in complex deployment environments to this book. As co-creator of Tekton, a cloud-native CI/CD platform built on Kubernetes, she offers unique insights into continuous delivery. Her practical guidance helps you design and maintain pipelines that keep software reliably release-ready, reflecting her deep involvement in high-criticality systems and developer tooling.
Grokking Continuous Delivery book cover

by Christie Wilson··You?

2022·300 pages·Continuous Delivery, Continuous Deployment, Pipeline Design, Version Control, Test Automation

After analyzing numerous deployment challenges at Google, Christie Wilson developed this clear guide to continuous delivery pipelines. You learn how to design pipelines for both new and legacy projects, keep software release-ready, and automate deployments safely using metrics and version control as your source of truth. The book walks you through handling noisy tests, speeding up slow suites, and scaling CD across applications with practical examples like Tekton, a CI/CD platform Christie co-created. If you're a software engineer aiming to integrate continuous delivery into your workflow without costly trial and error, this book lays out a straightforward, tool-agnostic roadmap.

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Best for Jenkins-centric deployment automation
Brent Laster is a seasoned global trainer and senior R&D manager with over 25 years in software and open-source technologies. His extensive experience underpins this guide to Jenkins 2, designed to help you evolve your deployment pipelines with modern automation. Laster’s passion for sharing knowledge shines through as he breaks down complex Jenkins features, making it accessible whether you’re updating legacy systems or building pipelines from scratch.

Brent Laster draws on over 25 years of experience in software development and leadership to explore how Jenkins 2 transforms continuous deployment pipelines. You learn to define pipelines as code using Jenkins' domain-specific language, migrate legacy jobs, and integrate security controls and shared libraries. The book guides you through differences between declarative and scripted syntax and introduces the Blue Ocean graphical interface for pipeline visualization. If you manage or develop DevOps environments and want to leverage Jenkins 2’s capabilities to streamline and automate delivery, this book offers detailed, practical insights without fluff.

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Best for deepening release process reliability
Jez Humble is a celebrated software engineer and author, known for his work with Google and his leadership in DevOps research. His book emerged from decades spent refining software delivery across diverse environments, including government and startups, offering readers tested methods for rapid and reliable releases. Humble’s deep practical knowledge and teaching at UC Berkeley make this book a solid guide for anyone aiming to modernize their deployment workflows.

Drawing from his extensive experience as a site reliability engineer at Google and co-founder of a DevOps research firm, Jez Humble crafted this book to tackle the challenges of slow, risky software releases. You’ll explore how to automate build, test, and deployment processes to achieve rapid, reliable delivery through concepts like the deployment pipeline and infrastructure automation. The book delves into improving collaboration among developers, testers, and operations, providing practical guidance on configuration management and zero-downtime releases. If you’re involved in software development or operations and want to streamline your delivery process, this book offers concrete frameworks and examples that can reshape how your teams release software.

Jolt Excellence Award Winner
Published by Addison-Wesley Professional
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Conclusion

These 8 books collectively highlight key themes: the critical role of automation in speeding deployments, the importance of reliable pipeline design, and the value of strategic assessment for continuous delivery maturity. If you're just starting out, Jez Humble's "Continuous Delivery" offers a solid foundation. For practitioners focused on Kubernetes and GitOps, Billy Yuen’s "GitOps and Kubernetes" and Viktor Farcic’s "The DevOps 2.3 Toolkit" provide advanced guidance.

For rapid, hands-on pipeline construction, Rafał Leszko’s "Continuous Delivery with Docker and Jenkins" paired with Brent Laster’s "Jenkins 2" can accelerate practical skills. Managers aiming to diagnose and improve organizational delivery practices will find Gerardus Blokdyk’s guide invaluable.

Alternatively, you can create a personalized Continuous Deployment book to bridge the gap between general principles and your specific situation. These books can help you accelerate your learning journey and confidently enhance your deployment workflows.

Frequently Asked Questions

I'm overwhelmed by choice – which book should I start with?

Start with Jez Humble's "Continuous Delivery" for a solid foundation in deployment automation. It covers essential principles that make other books more approachable.

Are these books too advanced for someone new to Continuous Deployment?

Not at all. While some books dive deep, others like "Continuous Delivery" and "Grokking Continuous Delivery" provide clear, accessible introductions suitable for beginners.

What's the best order to read these books?

Begin with foundational works like "Continuous Delivery" and "Grokking Continuous Delivery," then explore specialized topics such as Kubernetes with "GitOps and Kubernetes" and pipeline tools like "Jenkins 2."

Do I really need to read all of these, or can I just pick one?

You can pick books focused on your needs. For practical CI/CD pipelines, try "Continuous Delivery with Docker and Jenkins." For strategic insights, choose "Continuous Delivery A Complete Guide."

Which books focus more on theory vs. practical application?

"Continuous Delivery" and "Continuous Delivery A Complete Guide" emphasize theory and strategy, while "GitOps and Kubernetes" and "Jenkins 2" offer detailed hands-on practices.

Can I get tailored Continuous Deployment advice instead of reading multiple books?

Yes! While these expert books provide great insights, you can create a personalized Continuous Deployment book tailored to your experience and goals, blending expert knowledge with your unique needs.

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