Kubernetes Tips for Web Developers

Published on October 10, 2025

Kubernetes can seem overwhelming at first, but understanding a few key concepts will make your web development workflow much smoother. Here are the essential tips I wish I knew when starting out.

1. Start with Persistent Volumes

For web applications that need to persist data (like this blog), persistent volumes are crucial. They ensure your data survives pod restarts and updates.

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: blog-content
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 1Gi

2. Use ConfigMaps for Configuration

Instead of hardcoding configuration in your container images, use ConfigMaps to keep your deployments flexible:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: nginx-config
data:
  nginx.conf: |
    server {
        listen 80;
        root /usr/share/nginx/html;
        index index.html;
    }

3. Ingress Controllers for External Access

Ingress controllers are your gateway to the outside world. They handle SSL termination, routing, and load balancing:

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: blog-ingress
spec:
  rules:
  - host: myblog.example.com
    http:
      paths:
      - path: /
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: blog-service
            port:
              number: 80

4. Resource Limits Matter

Always set resource requests and limits to ensure your applications run predictably and don't consume all cluster resources.

5. Health Checks Are Essential

Implement readiness and liveness probes to help Kubernetes manage your application lifecycle effectively.

These fundamentals will get you started with deploying web applications on Kubernetes. The key is to start simple and gradually add complexity as needed.