Without great organizing solutions, programming can become a quite chaotic profession. While package management can be done manually and still be organized, with the growth of the project we all need an automatic program in our arsenal.
Programming languages come in default with at least one manager of packages to improve your workflow by controlling all of the system components. However, there are now advanced package management solutions that work across multiple platforms and languages for better convenience.
Besides the package managing tools, each program needs an appropriate system configuration that holds all the important assets to ensure easy access to your information. With such factors for the functionality of IT services, we made this article to show you how can these processes be improved.
Explanation of package management
To explain this tool easier, it is a program that lets you control all of the dependencies of your project. With that, you acquire another method of installing your needed packages and assess their location when needed.
As mentioned above, package management is not an essential tool at the start since each of these actions can be done manually. However, as soon as the project becomes larger and many packages get included, having a tool to rely on is highly beneficial.
When it comes to installing your packages, you have options. They can be installed globally and many people are weighting towards this option. On the other hand, by installing the packages locally on the project, you have the benefits of portable code and locked versions.
Benefits of using package management
Most companies as well as solo programmers are currently using package managing tools. To understand in detail why should you consider using package management, we made a short list of the benefits that this tool provides.
Visibility and Control
The first benefit is the ability to quickly find where the packages are stored as well as their names and their history. In addition, you’ll be able to quickly install and delete projects as well as update everything on time to ensure a properly functioning system.
They are universal
Most package managing tools are universal and are working with most languages used in everyday programming. This is highly beneficial if you are simultaneously working on more languages so you can control the whole system with a single program.
Additional security
The package managing program is created with lots of security features that provide safety to your system. This means your data is safely stored both at rest, as well as while running.
Provides metrics
With the use of a package managing tool, you get plenty of metrics you can track to improve your business on. In addition, you can track the logs as well as the downloads and uploads done to the system.
Lower running costs
Instead of doing the manual work of coding and maintenance as well as upgrading your package components, this can be done automatically. With that, as serokell.io suggests, you save time and can focus on the project which ends in lower running costs and better results.
Explanation of system configuration
The information about the assets of the project, their configuration as well as the way of their connection which results in a running system is done through a configuration tool. Implementing this into your project provides quality that impacts your customers in a good way.
System configuration works by maintaining and gathering all the information about the projects’ assets and being sure you can access this information quickly and securely. This is essential because every action is using the configuration systems.
Many people think they don’t need such a tool since they can access their files through the regular explore option. While this is somewhat true, you need a tool that makes the process of finding information easy and reliable. In addition, you need to know which information is important for collecting and how will design your system configuration to perfectly suit your needs.
Configuration system benefits
As mentioned above, you can survive without a configuration program, however, you’ll make your job more complicated than needed which results in wasting time.
To understand better why you need to implement a configuration system in your project, we prepared a short list of the benefits that this program offers.
More control
By defining the configuration system, you gain more control which results in better tracking and visibility of information needed. With that, you are increasing the working efficiency which is highly beneficial in every project.
Cost-effective
The information you possess helps in preventing duplicates of the code which helps in avoiding unnecessary work and reduces costs.
Practicality
Your system becomes more agile which results in quicker resolution of the problems that come up. With that, your customers receive better service which results in increased satisfaction.
Quicker corrections
The ability to easily and quickly correct any possible mistakes in a configuration that result in improper performance. In addition, you can quickly restore the system in case of any errors because of pre-saved configuration requirements from the past.
How to improve the package management and system configuration
While we’ve learned what are the package management and system configuration tools and the benefits they offer, it is now time to understand how can we improve them.
When it comes to package management, it is important to use a program that is suitable for the needs of your projects. This includes features like easy reproducibility and binary caches. In addition, the ability to install various versions of the packages at the same time is essential as well.
To improve the configuration there are a couple of things you can do. Firstly, design the configuration to work on the cases of your project and focus on what is important. Be sure not to save only technical info but config information as well.
However, be sure not to save too much config info since it is unnecessary and increases the database which confuses. Instead, create as many databases as you need since this makes the system organized and easy to work with.
Lastly, be sure to track the metrics and see how your configuration performs versus the past. Improve on the initial mistakes and strategize to do better in the future resulting in more successful projects.