What is Terraform?
Answer
Terraform is an open-source Infrastructure as Code tool created by HashiCorp. It uses a declarative language called HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language) to define the desired state of infrastructure across multiple cloud providers and services. Terraform determines what changes need to be made to reach the desired state and executes them in the correct order. Key characteristics: Multi-cloud: works with AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, GitHub, Datadog, and thousands of other providers via provider plugins. Declarative: you describe what you want, not how to create it. Idempotent: running the same configuration multiple times produces the same result. State management: tracks the actual deployed infrastructure in a state file. Terraform is the most widely used IaC tool for cloud infrastructure provisioning.