What is Infrastructure as Code?
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) means managing servers, databases, and cloud resources through version-controlled configuration files instead of manual clicks in a dashboard. Your infrastructure becomes reproducible, reviewable, and auditable.
In plain English
IaC is like having an architect's blueprint instead of building from memory. Anyone with the blueprint can construct the exact same building in any city. Without it, rebuilding your 'infrastructure' after a disaster relies on whoever clicked the buttons last remembering what they clicked.
How it works
Tools like Terraform, Pulumi, or AWS CDK let you declare cloud resources in code. You run a plan command to preview changes, then apply to provision or update real infrastructure. The state of your infrastructure is tracked in a state file, so the tool knows what already exists and what needs to change.
Why it matters for AI-built apps
AI can generate Terraform or Pulumi configs that provision entire environments — databases, queues, CDN rules, IAM roles — in minutes. This makes standing up staging environments trivial and disaster recovery rehearsable. It also creates a git-auditable record of every infrastructure change, which is invaluable for debugging and compliance.
Best practices
Store IaC in the same git repository as your application code so infrastructure and app changes are deployed together. Use remote state backends (S3, Terraform Cloud) rather than local state files so the team shares state. Start with IaC even on day one — it's far harder to retroactively codify a manually-built environment.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use Terraform or Pulumi?
Terraform has a larger ecosystem and more examples. Pulumi lets you write infrastructure in TypeScript or Python — a better fit if your team isn't comfortable with HCL. Either is a huge improvement over manual management.
Is IaC worth it for a small startup?
Yes — even for solo founders. The time to recreate infrastructure manually after an incident far exceeds the time to write Terraform configs upfront.
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