Infrastructure as Code
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is a DevOps practice that involves managing and provisioning computing infrastructure through machine-readable definition files, rather than physical hardware configuration or interactive configuration tools. It enables developers and operations teams to automate the setup, configuration, and management of infrastructure components like servers, networks, and storage using code. This approach treats infrastructure similarly to application code, allowing for version control, testing, and consistent deployments.
Developers should learn Infrastructure as Code to achieve faster, more reliable, and scalable infrastructure deployments, especially in cloud-native and microservices environments. It is crucial for automating repetitive tasks, ensuring consistency across development, staging, and production environments, and enabling infrastructure to be treated as a disposable resource. Use cases include setting up cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS, Azure), configuring Kubernetes clusters, and managing server configurations in agile development workflows.