Satya Prakash SharmaTerraform is an infrastructure as a code tool that developers use to define the project resources both on the cloud or on-premise in human-readable configuration files. It makes it easy to reuse and share any code in a native cloud environment. More and more companies are using Terraform to manage the infrastructure and application lifecycle via a consistent workflow. As a DevOps engineer, learning Terraform gives you the skills to handle even the most low-level components of hosted applications like CPU, storage, and networking resources.
Here is a complete Terraform developer toolkit with a list of resources that help you learn, upskill, and prepare for the interviews.
1. Terraform’s Language (HCL): Also called Hashicorp Configuration Language, you must be familiar with the syntax to use Terraform. Here’s an example syntax:
Terraform_command “provider_resource_name” “resource_name” {
“option_1”: “option_1”,
“option_1”: “option_1”
}
When you understand the Terraform code’s basic structure, it becomes much easier to use Terraform. Any Terraform code block has four critical elements: Command, Provider Resource Name, and Options.
2. State: One of the most important concepts of Terraform is the State. As a client-based application, Terraform must be able to keep track of the resources that it creates. For this functionality, it uses the concept of state. You must know how to make a State JSON file and use it for resource optimization.
3. Dependency resolution: Creating a cloud infrastructure requires many resources that are created simultaneously. There is an overlapping dependency between these resources that need management. With Terraform, you can quickly identify which resources depend on each other to prepare a well-planned execution strategy. As a Terraform developer, you must know the concept of dependency resolution, which is extremely important to deploy resource updates in the correct order.
4. Infrastructure as Code: Any DevOps engineer will have to ensure that the systems they design are built in a repeatable manner using Infrastructure as Code. It is an essential skill because it is how you can document cloud objects as version-controlled code. You must learn the concepts of IaC to get better opportunities as a Terraform developer.
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Official resources
Online courses and tutorials for Terraform developers
Hashicorp Certified — Terraform Associate
A course designed to make you a Terraform Associate, it is offered by Udemy. We recommend this online course for DevOps engineers who plan to implement Terraform in their organization. It covers all the Terraform modules and best practices in detail. This is the best course if you plan to learn the Infrastructure as Code approach.
Terraform for absolute beginners
For experienced developers, this 1-hour Coursera Terraform course is ideal. It is aimed at developers unfamiliar with Infrastructure as Code or who have not used Terraform before. This course covers Infrastructure as code concepts and ideas, Terraform basics and its execution flow, HCL language (Harshicorp Configuration Language System) syntax, and how to create Infrastructure using Terraform. Following the examples in the course, you will develop critical skills like DevOps, IT Automation, and Infrastructure as Code.
Terraform: From Beginner to Master with Examples in AWS
If you are an AWS developer planning to use Terraform for infrastructure deployment, this is the course for you. One distinctive quality of this course is its text-based interactive course. Implying you can practice right in the browser while learning Terraform. It is another excellent course to learn Terraform if you are a beginner. It elaborates on what challenges can be solved with Terraform in real-world applications. It covers all the critical features of Terraform, and as you don’t have to set up any local environment for practice, it’s much more user-friendly.
Books for Terraform developers
Pipeline as Code: Continuous Delivery with Jenkins, Kubernetes, and Terraform
A book that teaches you how to automate your development pipeline in a cloud-native, service-driven world, Pipeline as Code is excellent for learning Terraform. It covers all essential concepts like CI/CD pipelines, best practices, and how to build reliable CI/CD pipelines for cloud-native applications using Terraform, and other modern tools.
This hands-on book teaches you how to get up and running with Terraform fast. You will learn how to write production-grade Terraform modules and perform manual and automated testing for your code. This book also compares Terraform to Chef, CloudFormation, Puppet, Ansible, and SaltStack, so you better understand its features.
Patterns and Practices for Infrastructure as Code
This is a quick-start guide to getting started with Terraform in a cloud environment. The book begins with beginner’s concepts and moves on to features to manage Infrastructure at scale. It details advanced topics like state management, modules, and team collaboration on Terraform. As the book uses Python for Terraform, it is excellent for Python developers.
Online communities for Terraform developers
Google Terraform YouTube Channel
Podcasts for Terraform developers
Getting Started with Terraform on AWS with Cobus Bernard
Teamwork: DevOps teams work with both developers and operations teams. As part of a DevOps team, you should have a teamwork spirit. Learn to work well with other stakeholders and accommodate their ideas and requirements. Most successful teams are the ones that enable collaboration among members.
Patience: When working as a DevOps engineer, you must have patience. Not everyone will get your idea or the reason behind your decisions immediately. Other developers in your team might need more time to understand things. For this reason, you have to be patient. The operations team might be unable to understand how complex programming is or how long product update releases might take; for such reasons, you should anticipate the need for patience.
Open-mindedness: When you keep your mind open to new ideas, whether yours or someone else’s, you are more approachable and innovative. It would help if you took your time to understand the ideas presented to you before dismissing them. Exploring ideas is how you progress and find new ways to solve a challenge.
More resources on soft skill development:
5 Necessary soft skills for DevOps engineers
How soft skills transitioned to become the new power skills
4 key characteristics of a great software development team
Tips for good communication within a software development team
Conclusion
Terraform is a vital tool in the native cloud software application environment. Adding Terraform to your skillset, you will be eligible to explore more challenging and better-paying DevOps engineer opportunities.
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Avni Bohra
Afreen Khalfe
Neel Vithlani
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