DevOps is a methodology in the software development and IT industry. Used as a set of practices and tools, DevOps integrates and automates the work of software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) as a means for improving and shortening the systems development life cycle.[1] DevOps is complementary to agile software development; several DevOps aspects came from the agile approach.
Automation is an important part of DevOps. Software programmers and architects should use "fitness functions" to keep their software in check.[2]