Terraform Up and Running : Writing Infrastructure as Code

The reviews consistently praise this book as an excellent and comprehensive introduction to Terraform and Infrastructure as Code. Readers highlight its ability to clarify fundamental concepts, explaining not just how to use Terraform, but also the crucial "why" behind adopting IaC and a DevOps mindset. The author is commended for sharing best practices in areas such as project structure, testing, collaboration, and continuous integration/delivery, along with valuable insights and "gotchas" gained from experience. Many found the book well-written, clear, and engaging, guiding them from a beginner level to an intermediate understanding of Terraform's core features, including providers, state management, modules, and advanced constructs. The practical, tutorial-style approach is appreciated for demonstrating how to solve real-world problems and productionalize Terraform usage, covering important topics like team workflows and integrating it into an organization.

A recurring point of concern among reviewers is that the book's content is based on older versions of Terraform, which evolves rapidly. This often means that code examples and certain commands are outdated or deprecated, requiring readers to adapt them to current versions and sometimes search for solutions. Another frequently mentioned drawback is the book's strong focus on AWS for almost all its examples, leading some to wish for broader coverage of other cloud providers. Some readers found the quality of later chapters to be inconsistent, particularly those on advanced testing and team collaboration, which were perceived as less focused or comprehensive. Additionally, the tutorial format, while beneficial for beginners, was sometimes seen as slow for those already familiar with underlying technologies, prompting them to skip sections. A few reviewers also noted that the infrastructure examples provided are not always production-quality, potentially giving a misleading impression to novice users.

Despite these limitations, the consensus is that this book remains a highly recommended and valuable resource, often considered the best introduction to Terraform currently available. It provides a solid foundation in both the tool and broader IaC principles, making it an essential read for aspiring DevOps practitioners. This book is particularly well-suited for complete beginners to Terraform, individuals seeking to deepen their understanding of best practices, and those looking for guidance on implementing Terraform within a team or enterprise environment. It is also beneficial for operations engineers and software developers with a DevOps mindset who want to better understand and manage infrastructure, especially if their primary cloud provider is AWS.