Is coding asked in DevOps interview?

Yes, coding is often asked in DevOps interviews, though it may not be as intense as in traditional software development roles. The coding questions are typically aimed at testing your ability to automate tasks, write scripts, and solve problems efficiently. Here's what you can expect regarding coding in a DevOps interview:

What Kind of Coding Questions Are Asked in DevOps Interviews?

1. Scripting and Automation: DevOps focuses heavily on automation, so you’ll likely be asked to write scripts to automate tasks, such as server setup, deployment processes, or monitoring systems. You should be comfortable coding in languages like Bash, Python, or PowerShell.

2. Infrastructure as Code (IaC): You may be asked to write or explain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) templates using tools like Terraform, CloudFormation, or Ansible. For example, you might be asked to write a script to provision resources in AWS or automate a deployment pipeline.

3. CI/CD Pipeline Automation: You might be asked to write code to set up or automate parts of a CI/CD pipeline. This could involve configuring a Jenkins job, writing a Dockerfile, or creating a script to deploy an application to a Kubernetes cluster.

4. Problem-Solving: Some DevOps roles may include coding exercises that test your problem-solving skills with basic algorithms or data structures. These could be simple coding challenges involving arrays, strings, or system performance optimizations.

Example Questions You Might Encounter

• Write a script that automates the creation of a server in AWS using the CLI or Terraform.
• Write a Bash or Python script to monitor disk usage on a server and send an alert if usage exceeds a certain threshold.
• Automate the process of deploying a Dockerized application using Kubernetes.

Tools and Languages You Should Be Comfortable With

• Scripting Languages: Bash, Python, PowerShell
• Infrastructure as Code: Terraform, CloudFormation, Ansible
• Containerization: Docker, Kubernetes
• CI/CD Tools: Jenkins, GitLab CI, CircleCI

How to Prepare

To sharpen your coding and automation skills for a DevOps interview, you can practice with real-world problems through the following DesignGurus.io courses:

• Grokking the Coding Interview: Patterns for Coding Questions to build a strong foundation in problem-solving.
• Grokking the System Design Interview to understand how to design robust CI/CD pipelines and scalable infrastructure.
• Grokking Multithreading and Concurrency for Coding Interviews to handle tasks related to performance and optimization in a DevOps context.

By focusing on these areas, you’ll be well-prepared for the coding aspects of a DevOps interview!