Best Practices

Guidelines and best practices for backend engineering and DevOps workflows.

General Principles

1. Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

• Always version control your infrastructure
• Use descriptive names and consistent naming conventions
• Separate environments (dev, staging, production)
• Test infrastructure changes before deploying

2. Security First

• Never commit secrets to version control
• Use environment variables for sensitive data
• Implement least privilege access
• Regularly audit and update dependencies

3. Automation

• Automate repetitive tasks
• Use CI/CD pipelines for deployments
• Monitor and log everything
• Document your automation scripts

Docker Best Practices

Containerization

# Use specific versions, not latest
FROM python:3.11-slim

# Run as non-root user
USER nobody

# Multi-stage builds for smaller images
FROM builder AS build
...
FROM runner AS final
COPY --from=build /app /app

Security Tips

• Scan images for vulnerabilities
• Use .dockerignore to exclude unnecessary files
• Minimize layers in Dockerfile
• Don't run containers as root

Kubernetes Best Practices

Resource Management

• Always set resource requests and limits
• Use liveness and readiness probes
• Implement horizontal pod autoscaling
• Use namespaces for organization

Configuration

• Use ConfigMaps for configuration
• Use Secrets for sensitive data
• Implement pod disruption budgets
• Use labels and selectors consistently

CI/CD Best Practices

Pipeline Design

• Keep pipelines fast with caching
• Use matrix builds for testing multiple environments
• Fail fast on errors
• Implement rollback strategies

Quality Gates

• Run automated tests on every commit
• Perform static code analysis
• Check for security vulnerabilities
• Deploy to staging before production

Terraform Best Practices

Code Structure

├── main.tf
├── variables.tf
├── outputs.tf
├── modules/
│   ├── vpc/
│   └── ecs/
└── environments/
    ├── dev.tfvars
    └── prod.tfvars

State Management

• Use remote state (S3, Terraform Cloud)
• Enable state locking
• Backup state regularly
• Never manually modify state

Database Best Practices

Connection Management

• Use connection pooling
• Implement retry logic with backoff
• Set appropriate timeout values
• Close connections properly

Query Optimization

• Use indexes effectively
• Avoid SELECT * queries
• Use prepared statements
• Monitor query performance

Monitoring & Logging

Metrics to Track

• Application performance (response time, error rate)
• System resources (CPU, memory, disk I/O)
• Business metrics (requests per second, active users)
• Custom application-specific metrics

Logging Standards

import logging

logging.basicConfig(
    level=logging.INFO,
    format='%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s'
)

Security Checklist

Before Deployment

• [ ] No hardcoded credentials
• [ ] All dependencies up to date
• [ ] Security scans passed
• [ ] TLS/SSL configured
• [ ] Input validation implemented
• [ ] Rate limiting enabled
• [ ] Secrets properly managed
• [ ] Access control configured

Learning Resources

• Docker Best Practices
• Kubernetes Patterns
• Terraform Style Guide
• Twelve-Factor App

Continuous Improvement

Best practices evolve. Stay curious and keep learning. Review and update your workflows regularly.