Whether developing, testing, or deploying your apps in the cloud, you have to unlearn some beliefs and learn new ones to make it work
Application development and testing in the cloud are gaining popularity, as more businesses launch public and private cloud computing initiatives. Cloud development typically includes integrated development environments, application lifecycle management components (such as test and quality management, source code and configuration management, continuous delivery tools), and application security testing components.
Although technology executives and developers with experience in cloud-based development say there are clear benefits to developing in these environments -- such as costs savings and increased speed to market -- they also caution that there are challenges and surprises to look out for.
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Gotcha 1: The cloud doesn't always work like the "real world" Developers might find that the configuration they use in production is hard to replicate on cloud services. For example, with an application you develop in the cloud before bringing back to run locally, you might need to test against a legacy system that you can't simply copy onto a cloud service
Gotcha 2: Some apps aren't ideal for development in the cloud
The more hard-to-access or hard-to-replicate systems an application integrates with, the more difficult it is to develop and test it on cloud computing resources
Gotcha 3: Developers often dislike the unfamiliar cloud territory
Cloud computing is still relatively new to a lot of organizations, and it can be a disruptive technology, including in the development arena.
Gotcha 4: Lack of documentation hinders cloud developers
There is a lack of documentation to help developers understand the cloud and the tools and resources that can be used to build applications in that environment.
Gotcha 5: Network issues can bedevil private cloud environments
Developing in the cloud sometimes means developing in your own private cloud, which may not have the multitenancy and load-movement capabilities that keep your applications available 24/7. Other issues that can affect development and testing involve network delays and latency and the size of network pipes, especially in certain parts of the world.
Gotcha 6: It's easy to let the meter run unnecessarily on the cloud
Another potential problem is wasting money on cloud fees. Developers can easily forget or neglect to turn off virtual machines they aren't using. When it was on an in-house, capitalized server, this was no big deal. But when it is on usage-metered, leased resources as with public cloud computing, this is a waste of money
Gotcha 7: Cloud licenses can contain surprising deployment restrictions
Among the nontechnical issues with the cloud that can have an impact on development are licensing restrictions.
Gotcha 8: Integration can be harder to troubleshoot
Integrating new applications with existing ones can be a key part of the development process, and the cloud brings even more challenges from an integration perspective.
Gotcha 9: The cloud's fast pace of change can be hard to keep up with
Being on a quickly evolving cloud development platform, like Azure, means it's necessary to update best practices frequently
Despite the learning curve, cloud development is appealing
Despite the potential challenges, for many organizations application development in the cloud rather than sticking with traditional methods makes sense, for the same reasons that cloud computing in general makes sense: elasticity of resources and cost, and reduced operational complexity, both of which lead to shorter completion time.
This article, "Cloud development: 9 gotchas to know before you jump in," was originally published at InfoWorld.com.
