Why Terraform?

Terraform helps DevOps engineers and cloud architects treat infrastructure the same way software developers treat application code: versioned, tested, and shared.

Manage Any Infrastructure

Terraform supports a wide range of providers such as:

AWS
Azure
Google Cloud
Kubernetes
On-premises (VMware, OpenStack)
Third-party services (Cloudflare, GitHub, Datadog, etc.)

This flexibility allows you to use a single workflow across your entire stack.

Track Your Infrastructure

Terraform maintains a state file (terraform.tfstate) that acts as a single source of truth for your resources. This state:

Tracks all real-world infrastructure
Detects drift or manual changes
Enables auditing and troubleshooting

Version-controlling your infrastructure means you know what changed, when, and why.

Automate Change

Using Terraform, you can:

Declare desired infrastructure using simple HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language)
Run terraform plan to preview changes
Apply changes safely using terraform apply

It handles dependency resolution automatically, ensuring the correct order of resource creation or destruction.

Standardize Configuration

Terraform lets you write reusable modules, templates, and configurations:

DRY principle (Don’t Repeat Yourself)
Standardize deployment patterns
Enforce security and compliance by design

Teams can define best practices once and apply them everywhere.

Collaborate Easily

Using Terraform Cloud or remote backends like AWS S3 + DynamoDB, you can:

Lock state files
Prevent conflicts in parallel deployments
Run automated CI/CD pipelines

This ensures that teams can work together without stepping on each other’s toes.

Terraform Lifecycle

Terraform follows a predictable workflow:

Write: Define infrastructure in .tf files using HCL.
Initialize: Run terraform init to initialize your working directory.
Plan: Use terraform plan to review changes before applying them.
Apply: Run terraform apply to implement the desired state.
Destroy: Use terraform destroy to clean up and remove resources.

This lifecycle ensures controlled, predictable, and reversible changes.

Terraform is a powerful, cloud-agnostic IaC tool that empowers teams to manage infrastructure like software. Whether you're working with AWS, Azure, GCP, or on-premises systems, Terraform provides consistency, safety, and scalability.

By adopting Terraform, you gain:

Visibility
Speed
Security
Control

If you're building modern infrastructure, Terraform isn’t just an option—it’s the foundation.

Basic Terraform Commands

Here’s a quick cheat sheet of the most commonly used Terraform commands:

Command	Description
`terraform init`	Initializes the working directory and downloads provider plugins
`terraform plan`	Shows what Terraform will do based on current and desired states
`terraform apply`	Applies the changes required to reach the desired state
`terraform destroy`	Destroys the infrastructure defined in your files
`terraform validate`	Checks the configuration for syntax errors
`terraform fmt`	Formats your Terraform code according to standard style
`terraform state list`	Lists all resources tracked in the state file
`terraform output`	Shows output values defined in your configuration

Why Terraform? Everything You Need to Know to Manage Any Infrastructure