DoK Community #45 K8s DX Chronicles: Evolution From CLI to GitOps & Cloud Native IDEs // Katie Gamanji

Abstract of the talk…

Within its 7 years of existence, Kubernetes has been the gravitational center of the Cloud Native landscape, elevating a pluggable system that contributed to the diversification of the entire ecosystem. Wider adaptability of the tool prompted the diversification of the end-user base, and a consistent DX for cluster interaction became essential for Kubernetes. The community channeled herculean efforts towards the enhancement of the developer experience by extending the cluster CLI, building portals, and highly-responsive UIs.

Bio…

Katie is the Ecosystem Technical Advocate at CNCF or Cloud Native Computing Foundation. Katie's focus within this role is to grow and lead the End User Community while bridging the gap with other ecosystem units, such as project maintainers, TOCs, and SIGs. In the past roles as a cloud platform engineer, Katie has build platforms that gravitate towards cloud-native technologies and principles, with Kubernetes as the focal point. These projects started with the automation of application delivery on OpenStack-based infrastructure, which transitioned into the creation of a centralized, globally distributed platform at Condé Nast and American Express. Additionally, Katie is the creator/instructor of the Cloud Native Fundamentals Udacity course and is on the advisory board for Keptn, a CNCF sandbox project.

Key take-aways from the talk…

This talk will focus on the cluster DX chronicles, showcasing tools that contributed to wider adoption for Kubernetes. An emphasis will be placed on cluster CLI and how it can be extended using kubectl plugins and wrappers. This will be followed by an introduction of widespread cluster state managers, covering mechanisms such as GitOps and cloud native IDEs, such as GitPod.