I've been a backend/system developer for nine years, mainly avoiding anything related to devops. However, after joining a devops-focused startup, I've been wading through approximately 15,000 lines of Terraform and Helm charts, and I find myself growing increasingly frustrated with Infrastructure as Code (IaC). I understand the theory behind it—using text description and versioning to feel safer making production changes—but in practice, it feels like an illusion of safety. There are no tests, minimal validation, and Terraform's planning tools often can't catch fundamental mistakes. I'm curious, if you disagree, what am I missing? And if you agree, how do you cope without losing your sanity?
4 Answers
First off, you can and definitely should write tests for IaC. Just because your team isn’t doesn’t mean the tools aren't there. Also, monolithic architectures can complicate things, as each change might have a larger disruption. Microservices can potentially ease that by breaking changes down into smaller pieces, though they come with their own complications. Just a heads-up, I think Terraform can be problematic if not used correctly—some providers might be better off not being used at all. Always remember to have a production-like environment for testing!
You’re right about testing IaC; it should be treated just like any other code. Microservices definitely make the situation more complex, and I agree, separating concerns within infrastructure is tricky. Everyone has their own take on that!
I get that, but honestly, IaC beats the alternative of managing infrastructure manually. Hand-configuring everything leads to outdated documentation and possible inconsistencies. Having IaC allows you a single source of truth that stays in sync with what's running in production. Plus, it’s way easier to set up duplicate setups when you have IaC in place, making things much simpler for staging environments. What are your thoughts?
That’s a good point on testing—IaC is code and should follow the same principles. And yeah, microservices can add layers of complexity to the whole setup.