github.com/rstandt/terraform@v0.12.32-0.20230710220336-b1063613405c/website/docs/configuration-0-11/index.html.md (about) 1 --- 2 layout: "docs" 3 page_title: "0.11 Configuration Language" 4 sidebar_current: "docs-conf-old" 5 description: |- 6 Terraform uses text files to describe infrastructure and to set variables. These text files are called Terraform _configurations_ and end in `.tf`. This section talks about the format of these files as well as how they're loaded. 7 --- 8 9 # Configuration Language 10 11 -> **Note:** This page is about Terraform 0.11 and earlier. For Terraform 0.12 12 and later, see 13 [Configuration Language](../configuration/index.html). 14 15 Terraform uses text files to describe infrastructure and to set variables. 16 These text files are called Terraform _configurations_ and end in 17 `.tf`. This section talks about the format of these files as well as 18 how they're loaded. 19 20 The format of the configuration files are able to be in two formats: 21 Terraform format and JSON. The Terraform format is more human-readable, 22 supports comments, and is the generally recommended format for most 23 Terraform files. The JSON format is meant for machines to create, 24 modify, and update, but can also be done by Terraform operators if 25 you prefer. Terraform format ends in `.tf` and JSON format ends in 26 `.tf.json`. 27 28 Click a sub-section in the navigation to the left to learn more about 29 Terraform configuration.