Up until relatively recently, online platforms weren’t as widespread and high in demand; however, at some point, everything changed when it comes to this, and they have become the cornerstone for a lot of different things, ranging from shopping, gaming, banking, etc.
And what’s amazing about them is the fact that at first glance, they all seem as if they are running seamlessly, without too much assistance or machinery. But what a vast majority of people fail to realize is that behind them, there’s an omnipotent world of engineering that is filled with people who are constantly giving their all to ensure there are no errors, crashes, and other issues.
Sadly, a lot of people have the tendency to take functional platforms (apps & websites) for granted, forgetting how much work and effort are required for everything to function smoothly. Behind this perfection are lots of practical engineering practices that keep these systems “alive and well”.
Since this topic isn’t really discussed often, this article today will further delve into it, just to show you how much those practices impact the entire online journey.
The Importance Of Scalability
One of the first things that’s on the mind of the engineers, as far as this is concerned, is whether they’ll be capable of making something that’s stable enough, and that’s not going to break easily.
And the term that first crosses their minds is scalability, since it helps platforms “deal” with millions of users without experiencing any issues. Many modern online platforms simply cannot survive if they aren’t reliable, and that’s precisely where the knowledge and experience of an experienced Site Reliability Engineer is vital. These specialists bridge the gap between operations and development, making sure every system remains sturdy, resilient, and effective even if something negative happens.
They are the ones who develop monitoring systems and build infrastructure that’s able to heal itself in case of unexpected events. All of these elements are here to help online platforms deliver an effortless and more dependable user experience.
Making Use Of Redundancy
Many businesses make use of redundancy to keep single points of failure at bay. So, what does this term represent? Namely, if you ask seasoned engineers, they’ll tell you that it refers to basically anything that can negatively impact the whole system, and ultimately bring it down.
And there’s no need to remind you how bad this can be, especially when it comes to online platforms. That’s exactly why various engineering practices add a lot of layers of redundancy to prevent this from occurring, even if one component stops functioning. Some examples include:
- Database replicas
- Automatic failover systems
- The same service is run by numerous servers
In a nutshell, redundancy should be perceived like an airbag or a collision detection during a ride. Deep down, you hope you will never-ever have to employ any of these things; however, if God forbid something bad happens, they are the ones that will prevent further escalation, and that’s one of the main reasons why so many modern online platforms function normally even during internal disruptions.
Don’t Forget The Automating Testing
The reality is that the vast majority of online platforms are consistently going through some changes because they want to make sure their users are provided with top-notch services and overall online experiences.
Therefore, they tend to embrace new, exciting features that will further level up things, along with the latest security updates to ensure that the online journey isn’t only fun, but safe, as well. And these aren’t the only things they embrace.
In fact, the list is actually much bigger. The point is that manual testing isn’t always able to keep up with all these changes, and that’s why engineers are oftentimes obligated to put their trust in the hands of automation:
- Regression testing
- Unit tests
- Performance tests
- Integration tests
- Security scans
- Load tests
Each time developers add new code, automated solutions immediately conduct a bunch of different tests just to be one hundred percent sure that everything is fine, or if it isn’t, then they’ll let developers know so they can fix it on time.
Security, Security, Security
A resilient and reliable platform encompasses a lot of different elements, and one of them is safety. That’s something practical engineering prioritizes right from the start, not as an afterthought, because if it doesn’t, then the whole system will become prone to breaches.
Truth be told, modern online platforms are far from simple (in terms of their build and the overall functioning), and that’s something that no one is aware of, aside from the brilliant engineers who always do their best to ensure the platforms they created are resilient and always work smoothly.
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