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DevOps & Automation · Foundational

Declarative Configuration

Specifying the desired end state of a system and letting a tool determine the steps to reach it.

Definition

Declarative tools such as Terraform, Kubernetes manifests, CloudFormation, and Bicep compare the desired state with current state and compute the changes. This enables drift detection, idempotency, and easier review.

Example

A Kubernetes Deployment declares replicas: 3 and the controller creates or deletes pods to match.

Exam tip

Declarative = what; imperative = how. Kubernetes 'kubectl apply -f' is declarative, 'kubectl run' is imperative.

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