6th March 2025
The two most prominent development approaches at the moment are Agile and DevOps. But what are the differences between them, and how do you choose which is best for you? A new report from GitLab Inc [1] compares the two and comes up with some interesting conclusions.
The two approaches are often seen as being complementary rather than in direct competition with each other. However, the report shows there are differences in the way they are used. For example, automation and deployment on demand are more likely to be practised by those using DevOps.
More DevOps than Agile users say that they see automation as being a high priority. Agile users are also deploying code less frequently than DevOps sites that may do so several times a day. This is reflected in the tools used, with DevOps users more likely to cite continuous integration and continuous delivery tools in their top three.
In both approaches, version control systems and an integrated development environment are touted as the top tools. Agile users, however, are more likely to prioritise collaboration and chat tools to aid team working. Generally speaking, whatever methodology is in use, the best performing teams are those that have access to the best tools.