In the previous chapters, you have learned about the continuous integration and continuous deployment of your software. You also learned how the same principles can be applied to the delivery of configuration in infrastructure. Once you have adopted these principles and start increasing the flow of value delivery, you might run into another challenge: managing your database schema changes.

Applying DevOps to databases can feel like trying to change the tires on a running car. You must find some way of coordinating changes between database schema and application code without taking the system down for maintenance.

In this chapter, you will learn about different approaches for doing just that: managing these schema changes while avoiding downtime. With proper planning and a disciplined approach, this can be achieved in a way that manages risks well. You will see how you can treat your database schema as code, and you will learn about the different approaches that are available to do so. You will also see another approach that avoids database schemas altogether, namely, going schema-less.

The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

• Managing a database schema as code
• Applying database schema changes
• Going schema-less
• Other approaches and concerns