what is iac

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the process of managing and provisioning computer data centers through machine-readable definition files, rather than physical hardware configuration or interactive configuration tools. With IaC, infrastructure is defined as code, which allows users to easily edit and distribute configurations while ensuring the desired state of the infrastructure. IaC is a key DevOps practice and a component of continuous delivery. It enables infrastructure to be easily integrated into version control mechanisms to create trackable and auditable infrastructure changes. IaC provides the ability to introduce extensive automation for infrastructure management, which leads to faster and more efficient infrastructure changes. There are two ways to approach IaC: declarative or imperative. Declarative approach defines the desired state of the system, including what resources you need and any properties they should have, and an IaC tool will configure it for you. An imperative approach involves writing scripts that specify the exact steps to take to configure the infrastructure. IaC can be a key attribute of enabling best practices in DevOps, and it is integrated into CI/CD pipelines as an integral part of the SDLC.