Users define the desired state of their infrastructure in a declarative configuration language. This configuration specifies the resources and their configurations without detailing the step-by-step process to achieve that state.
Terraform supports multiple cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and others. This allows users to manage infrastructure across different cloud environments using a consistent set of tools and configurations.
Terraform builds a resource graph based on the dependencies declared in the configuration. This graph allows Terraform to determine the correct order in which resources should be provisioned or updated.
Before making any changes to the infrastructure, Terraform generates an execution plan. This plan shows the changes that will be applied, giving users an opportunity to review and approve them before execution.
Terraform is designed to be idempotent, meaning that applying the same configuration multiple times results in the same outcome as applying it once. This allows for safer and more predictable infrastructure changes.
Terraform maintains a state file that records the current state of the infrastructure. This file is used to compare the desired state with the actual state and to plan and apply changes.
Terraform has a large and active community, and it is widely used in the industry. There is an extensive collection of modules, plugins, and providers contributed by the community, allowing users to leverage pre-built configurations and integrations.
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