Chapter 7. Why Every Engineer Should Be a Cloud Engineer
Michelle Brenner
I am a lazy engineer. If I have the option to copy, reference, or install a tool to get my job done faster, I say thanks and move on. I started my tech career working in entertainment, where you don’t have sprints or quarters to finish tools. Studios need the work done yesterday, because they want to get the best art possible before the release date. As an engineer, I know I can solve any problem, but I’ve realized that I can have a much greater impact using available tools.
Most of us are not working on groundbreaking technology; we’re solving problems for customers. I want to focus on delighting my clients, not fiddling with a problem a thousand engineers have already tackled. It is a common misconception that cloud computing is just servers in someone else’s warehouse. While you can get that bare-metal setup, there are so many other features that no single person can know them all. If you can define a problem in a general way, such as log in using social accounts, store information securely, or scale service to meet demand, you can find a cloud tool to do it.
As a backend engineer, I was building APIs and designing databases. Learning cloud technologies meant I could get my own code live faster, more easily, and more reliably. A colleague was not always available to help me improve ...
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