What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)? 🤔

Before we go full throttle, let’s define Infrastructure as Code.

IaC is the practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure through code instead of manually clicking around AWS like a lost intern. It lets you:

✅ Automate deployments 🔄
✅ Keep infrastructure consistent across environments 🌍
✅ Easily roll back changes when things inevitably break 😅
✅ Version control your infrastructure just like application code 📜

Now, let’s talk about the key players in the IaC world.

The History of IaC Tools

AWS CloudFormation (2011) - The AWS Native Solution ☁️

AWS CloudFormation was Amazon’s first major attempt at automating infrastructure. Using YAML/JSON templates, you could define AWS resources and deploy them in a predictable, repeatable way.

👉 Think of CloudFormation as: That AWS employee who only uses AWS-approved tools and thinks everything else is unnecessary. 😆

More on CloudFormation: https://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/

Terraform (2014) - The Multi-Cloud King 👑

Terraform, built by HashiCorp, changed the game by introducing a declarative, cloud-agnostic approach to IaC using its own language called HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language).

👉 Think of Terraform as: That developer who insists on supporting AWS, Azure, and GCP all at once. 🌍

More on Terraform: https://www.terraform.io/

Pulumi (2018) - IaC with Real Code 💻

Pulumi took a different route: instead of using YAML/HCL, it lets you define infrastructure using real programming languages like Python, JavaScript, and Go.

👉 Think of Pulumi as: That cool DevOps engineer who writes infrastructure in TypeScript because “everything should be JavaScript!”

More on Pulumi: https://www.pulumi.com/

Ansible (2012) - Configuration Management Meets IaC ⚙️

Ansible started as a configuration management tool but evolved into an IaC powerhouse. It uses YAML playbooks to define infrastructure and automate deployments.

👉 Think of Ansible as: The reliable sysadmin who believes “everything can be fixed with a YAML playbook!”

More on Ansible: https://www.ansible.com/

How They Compare: CloudFormation vs Terraform vs Pulumi vs Ansible

Example Code for Each IaC Tool

AWS CloudFormation Example (Creates an S3 Bucket)

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AWSTemplateFormatVersion: '2010-09-09'
Resources:
  MyS3Bucket:
    Type: "AWS::S3::Bucket"
    Properties:
      BucketName: "my-cloudformation-bucket"

Terraform Example (Creates the Same S3 Bucket)

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provider "aws" {
  region = "us-east-1"
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket" "my_bucket" {
  bucket = "my-terraform-bucket"
}

Pulumi Example (Python)

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import pulumi
import pulumi_aws as aws

bucket = aws.s3.Bucket("my-pulumi-bucket")
pulumi.export("bucket_name", bucket.id)

Ansible Playbook Example (Deploys S3 Bucket)

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- name: Create an S3 Bucket
  hosts: localhost
  tasks:
    - name: Create bucket
      amazon.aws.s3_bucket:
        name: my-ansible-bucket
        state: present

Key Ideas Table

Reference Links

• https://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/
• https://www.terraform.io/
• https://www.pulumi.com/
• https://www.ansible.com/