These terms overlap but have distinct meanings.
Site Reliability Engineering (SRE): Treats operations as a software problem. Heavy focus on automation, SLOs, and error budgets. Often requires strong coding skills.
DevOps: A culture and set of practices bridging development and operations. Broader term, less prescriptive. Focuses on CI/CD, collaboration, and automation.
Platform Engineering: Builds internal developer platforms. Creates self-service tools for other engineers. Growing rapidly.
In interviews, know which role you're applying for. An SRE interview at Google differs significantly from a DevOps role at a startup.