Strategies for Reliable Database Schema Migrations

Explore strategies for implementing reliable database schema migrations in this 27-minute conference talk from Conf42 Kube Native 2024. Begin with a real-world developer horror story of a migration gone wrong, followed by a postmortem analysis to understand the resulting outage. Discover the critical importance of reliable schema changes and delve into six key strategies: automating schema changes, treating database schema as code, implementing unit tests for database logic, testing data migrations, automating risk detection in migrations, and performing pre-migration checks. Gain valuable insights to enhance your database migration processes and prevent potential disasters in your development workflow.

Introduction and Speaker Background
Developer Horror Story: A Migration Gone Wrong
Postmortem Analysis: Understanding the Outage
The Importance of Reliable Schema Changes
Strategy 0: Automate Your Schema Changes
Strategy 1: Database Schema as Code
Strategy 2: Testing Database Logic with Unit Tests
Strategy 3: Testing Data Migrations
Strategy 4: Automating Risk Detection in Migrations
Strategy 5: Pre-Migration Checks
Conclusion and Recap of Strategies