DEVOPS AND CONTINUOUS DELIVERY ADOPTION: TRENDS, CHALLENGES, AND BEST PRACTICES IN MODERN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE

Efficient software development and deployment methods possess high market value due to the rapid advancement of digital technology. The Revolutionary approaches through DevOps and Continuous Delivery (CD) help to make more fast and dependable software releases by collaborating between the development and operations teams. This paper then goes on to provide an analysis of these challenges, categorizing them into organizational and cultural barriers and technical problems including testing inefficiencies, infrastructure management and security concerns. Additionally, there are best practices for implementing successful DevOps and CI/CD; which includes frequent code commits, automated testing, cleaning environments, and continuous monitoring to make reliability and efficiency. This paper also offers a comparative literature review of rudimentary key studies of DevOps methodologies' impact on software development. It examines critical success factors (CSFs), DevOps maturity models, and the role of automation in optimizing CI/CD pipelines. The analysis reveals significant research gaps in AI-driven automation, standardized DevOps frameworks, and the need for empirical validation of proposed methodologies in real-world enterprise settings. Addressing these gaps can further enhance the adoption and sustainability of DevOps practices, ensuring seamless software development and deployment processes.