Infrastructure as Code
Managing infrastructure through version-controlled code rather than manual processes.
Definition
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure through machine-readable definition files rather than manual processes. Tools like Terraform, CloudFormation, and Pulumi enable declaring desired infrastructure state that automation then creates.
IaC brings software development practices to infrastructure—version control, code review, testing, and CI/CD. This enables repeatable, auditable, and collaborative infrastructure management.
Why It Matters
Manual infrastructure management doesn't scale and can't be reliably reproduced. IaC enables treating infrastructure with the same rigor as application code.
For teams operating cloud infrastructure, IaC is foundational for sustainable operations.
Examples in Practice
A complete production environment is provisioned from code in 30 minutes, enabling rapid disaster recovery.
Infrastructure changes go through code review, catching potential issues before they affect production.
IaC enables creating identical staging environments that accurately reflect production for testing.