Terraform is an open-source infrastructure as code (IaC) tool developed by HashiCorp that lets you define and provision data center infrastructure with a declarative configuration language.

This language, Hashicorp Configuration Language (HCL), enables users to describe the desired state of their infrastructure. Terraform then automatically plans and executes the actions needed to achieve that state, treating infrastructure as a version-controlled, reproducible asset.

While “Terraform” refers to the tool itself, the term is often used informally to mean the HCL code. Of note, OpenTofu, an open-source, community-driven fork and Linux Foundation project, emerged as an open-source alternative to Terraform after a licensing change by HashiCorp, offering an identical workflow and HCL compatibility.

Terraform and OpenTofu are important because its extensive “provider” ecosystem enables a unified, declarative approach to managing diverse infrastructure., Providers translate configurations into specific API calls for platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, on-premises environments and many other services. – allowing users to define, version and reproduce infrastructure from a single configuration language.

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