What did ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus know about DevOps?

What did Heraclitus the famous philosopher of the 4th Century BC know about DevOps? The short answer is nothing, but he understood its fundamental principles of change, transformation and stability. It is no surprise that DevOps has been the biggest buzzword in the tech industry for the past 2 years as it has successfully demonstrated the ability to proactively adapt code changes, transform an organization to value customer-centric metrics which drive innovation and increase build velocity while simultaneously improving stability.

Heraclitus’ most famous quote and understanding of the world is his assertion that “it is impossible to step twice into the same river.” How is DevOps represented in this age old wisdom from an ancient Greek philosopher? A river consists of water that flows downstream, and although the banks of the river lend a kind of stability to the body of water, the contents of the body are never the same. From the customer’s perspective, an application released via DevOps appears more stable and reliable, just as the banks of a river give it stability and form.

The riverbanks also represent and create a real-time feedback loop telling water, representing the developers pushing code changes where to go and how to act. Making sure not to disrupt the natural flow of the application the developer is constantly changing and improving the features and functionality to the benefit of the customer. An application backed by this methodology is constantly changing yet appears relatively stable in its intent and purpose by always providing value to its customers.