Terraform is an open-source Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool developed by HashiCorp, designed to automate the provisioning and management of infrastructure across various platforms. Using a declarative configuration language known as HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language), developers can define cloud and on-premises resources, such as virtual machines, storage, networking components, and services.

One of Terraform’s key strengths is its ability to manage resources across multiple cloud providers (like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and on-premise data centers in a unified workflow. It works by reading the infrastructure configuration files and comparing them to the current state of the environment. If there are discrepancies, Terraform can adjust the infrastructure to match the desired state. This process ensures consistency, scalability, and efficiency in deploying resources.

Terraform also supports version control, enabling teams to track infrastructure changes, roll back to previous states, and collaborate seamlessly. The tool’s modularity allows for reusable and composable infrastructure components, reducing redundancy and simplifying infrastructure management.