Terraform
ELI5 — The Vibe Check
Terraform is a tool that lets you describe your entire cloud infrastructure in code files, then type one command to make it real. Want 5 servers, a database, and a load balancer? Write it out, run terraform apply, and it builds everything. Run it again and it figures out only what needs to change.
Real Talk
Terraform is an open-source IaC tool by HashiCorp that uses a declarative configuration language (HCL) to provision infrastructure across cloud providers. It maintains a state file to track real-world resource status and computes a diff ('plan') before making changes.
Show Me The Code
terraform init # Download providers
terraform plan # Preview changes
terraform apply # Apply changes
terraform destroy # Tear everything down
When You'll Hear This
"Run terraform plan to see what will change before applying." / "The entire AWS infrastructure is defined in Terraform."
Related Terms
Ansible
Ansible is a tool that lets you automate the setup of servers by writing scripts called playbooks.
Environment
An environment is a complete setup where your app runs — a specific combination of servers, databases, config, and code.
GitOps
GitOps is the idea that git is the single source of truth for EVERYTHING — your code, your infrastructure config, your deployment state.
IaC (Infrastructure as Code)
IaC is shorthand for Infrastructure as Code — the idea that your servers and cloud setup should be written in files, not clicked together in a UI.
Infrastructure as Code
ClickOps means building your cloud infrastructure by clicking buttons in AWS console.