Terraform is a popular IaC tool that lets you declare cloud infrastructure in code and apply it across providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP.

What is the difference between declarative and imperative IaC?

Declarative IaC describes the desired end state and lets the tool figure out the steps, while imperative IaC lists each step to execute.

Intermediate🖼️ 20 slides⏱ 4 minDevOps

📝 Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) manages servers and cloud resources through code instead of manual setup. This visual guide covers Terraform, declarative vs imperative, state, modules, and why IaC makes infrastructure repeatable and version-controlled.

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What Is IaC?

Managing infrastructure through code, not manual clicks.

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Why IaC?

Repeatable, version-controlled, and reviewable infrastructure.

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Manual vs IaC

Manual setup drifts; code is consistent.

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Declarative vs Imperative

Declare the desired state vs list every step.

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What Is Terraform?

A popular tool to define infra as code.

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Providers

Plugins for AWS, Azure, GCP, and more.

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Resources

Declare servers, networks, and databases.

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What Is State?

Terraform tracks real resources in a state file.

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Plan and Apply

Preview changes, then apply them.

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Modules

Reusable infrastructure components.

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Variables and Outputs

Parameterize and expose values.

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Idempotency

Re-running gives the same result.

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Drift Detection

Spot when reality differs from code.

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Other IaC Tools

Pulumi, CloudFormation, and Ansible.

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IaC and CI/CD

Automate infra changes in pipelines.

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Secrets Management

Keep credentials out of code.

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Multi-Environment

Reuse code for dev, staging, prod.

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Benefits

Speed, consistency, and disaster recovery.

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Common Pitfalls

State conflicts and manual drift.

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Getting Started

Write a small Terraform config and apply it.

Frequently Asked Questions

IaC is the practice of managing and provisioning servers and cloud resources through code instead of manual setup, making infrastructure repeatable and version-controlled.