On DevOps — 10. Infrastructure as Code — Introduction to CloudFormation, AWS CDK, EKSCTL, and AWS SAM

Some cloud, at some Fjord in Norway

In my last article, I talked in depth about Terraform about how it works, some advantages and disadvantages, and best practices. If you haven’t read it yet, here’s the link to it:

On DevOps — 9. Infrastructure as Code — Clean Code, Terraform Introduction, and Best Practices

Given the benefits and disadvantages of Terraform, it could be a go-to option for many people who want to get started managing their cloud infrastructure as code. However, there are certain cases that you might want to consider other options, and let’s go over them one by one.

CloudFormation

CloudFormation is AWS’s answer to Infrastructure as code. It was launched in 2011, way earlier than Terraform, and over the years, it has become an indispensable tool for many AWS customers. You can define a template once, then re-use it to provision your AWS resources.

Syntax

At the beginning of its lifecycle, JSON is the only supported format, and let’s face it, JSON isn’t easy to read, although the official website says that it is a…