CodingStandards.txt

Coding standards and guidelines for IaC repos.

All items are specific to a given element. Elements can be root level Terraform
files or module level Terraform files.

For Terraform-related files the standards are:

  - Variables defined are stored in the root variables.yaml file for that element.

  - Outputs defined are stored in the root outputs.yaml file for that element.
  
  - Locals defined are stored in the root locals.yaml file for that element.
  
    * Locals are created when one is using a module, resources, or outputs that require any extra logic.
    * Locals hide the extra logic to keep the main code base more readable.

  - Modules defined are stored in the root level of the project in the modules directory.

  - Documentation lives at the root level of the project in the docs directory.

  - Examples are stored in the root level of the project in the examples directory.
  
  - Template files are stored in the root templates directory for that element.

  Here is an example directory structure and files following these standards:

    .
    ├── docs
    ├── examples
    ├── files
    ├── modules
    │   ├── foo
    |   |   ├─ main.tf
    |   |   ├─ locals.tf
    |   |   ├─ variables.tf
    |   |   └─ outputs.tf
    │   └── bar
    |       ├─ main.tf
    |       ├─ locals.tf
    |       ├─ variables.tf
    |       └─ outputs.tf
    ├── templates
    ├── locals.tf
    ├── main.tf
    ├── outputs.tf
    ├── provider.tf
    ├── variables.tf
    └── versions.tf

When coding has completed, run the following command:

  - terraform fmt -recursive

This ensures everyone on the team has the same and consistent file formatting prior to pushing the code into git.