Twelve-Factor App methodology – Wikipedia
Posted by jpluimers on 2025/10/22
It was only a few years back that I was reminded there was in fact a methodology for cloud-based apps: Twelve-Factor App methodology – Wikipedia
Despite me following most of the factors there already (similarly that I have been doing agile software development using extreme programming techniques since the mid 1980s, long before it before they got formal in the 1990s and early 2000s), it helps to have a good vocabulary, so below are some links
The list from Twelve-Factor App methodology – Wikipedia:
# Factor Description I Codebase There should be exactly one codebase for a deployed service with the codebase being used for many deployments. II Dependencies All dependencies should be declared, with no implicit reliance on system tools or libraries. III Config Configuration that varies between deployments should be stored in the environment. IV Backing services All backing services are treated as attached resources and attached and detached by the execution environment. V Build, release, run The delivery pipeline should strictly consist of build, release, run. VI Processes Applications should be deployed as one or more stateless processes with persisted data stored on a backing service. VII Port binding Self-contained services should make themselves available to other services by specified ports. VIII Concurrency Concurrency is advocated by scaling individual processes. IX Disposability Fast startup and shutdown are advocated for a more robust and resilient system. X Dev/Prod parity All environments should be as similar as possible. XI Logs Applications should produce logs as event streams and leave the execution environment to aggregate. XII Admin Processes Any needed admin tasks should be kept in source control and packaged with the application.
Links of interest:
- [Wayback/Archive] The Twelve-Factor App: the original list of factors with introduction and background.
- [Wayback/Archive] Twelve-Factor App. The twelve-factor app (12factor.net) is… | by Rohit Kumar | Medium explains the factors in more detail showing concrete examples for each.
- [Wayback/Archive] 12 factor principles to design a cloud native application | by Lalitha V | Medium is less elaborate but has some interesting insights
- [Wayback/Archive] 12 factor app – Core Guidelines To Cloud Ready Solutions a ready-to-go slide deck explaining for each factor the Do’s, Don’ts and Definitions plus some elaboration on how to apply them to containers, serverless and PaaS.
- [Wayback/Archive] Beyond the Twelve-Factor App preface of [Wayback/Archive] Beyond the 12 Factor App: Exploring the DNA of Highly Scalable, Resilient Cloud Applications
- [Wayback/Archive] The Twelve-Factor App | Clever Cloud Documentation
Via:
- [Wayback/Archive] Postfix configuration inside a container : docker
This is the way containerized software should behave. It’s part of the 12-factor-app principle for “cloud ready” applications.
- [Wayback/Archive] 12-factor-app principle for “cloud ready” applications – Google Search
–jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
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