Infrastructure
Infrastructure is the foundational physical, digital, and operational resources and systems that support an organization, computing system, or service.
Simple Object-Oriented Design: Create clean, maintainable applications
Infrastructure is the set of external systems, integrations, and technical resources outside the backend's direct control.
- How it is used
- Separates external communication from business logic to control coupling and change impact.
- How deep it goes
- Defines infrastructure, gives separation rules and repository examples, then examines abstraction and technology-specific tradeoffs without implementing caching.
- Examples
- Uses database access, configuration-file reading, remote employee calls, caching, read replicas, authentication changes, and S3 file storage.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate and refactor boundaries that isolate external dependencies while retaining useful infrastructure capabilities.
Secure APIs
Computing infrastructure is the collection of networks, servers, traffic-management components, and security controls that supports software operation.
- How it is used
- Supports API operation by combining networks, servers, traffic-management components, and security controls.
- How deep it goes
- Explains topology, controls, attack surfaces, and Infrastructure as Code, while deferring detailed infrastructure techniques to later treatment.
- Examples
- Uses a vulnerable avatar-download endpoint, user and admin services, network isolation, gateways, WAFs, and Infrastructure as Code tools.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure API infrastructure by restricting service access, protecting traffic, replicating environments, and auditing infrastructure code.
Infrastructure as Code, Patterns and Practices: With examples in Python and Terraform
The computing resources and supporting systems that provide the foundation for running applications and services.
- How it is used
- Frames the resources and supporting systems needed to deliver applications reliably and securely in production.
- How deep it goes
- Defines infrastructure broadly, distinguishes core resources from operational requirements, and illustrates modern service examples.
- Examples
- Uses servers, switches, disks, databases, queues, containers, serverless functions, monitoring, alerts, and health checks.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate whether an application environment meets production requirements beyond basic compute, networking, and storage.
Shipping Go: Develop, deliver, discuss, design, and go again
The computing resources, platforms, networks, and supporting software systems required to develop, run, and deliver applications.
- How it is used
- Guides teams from shipping a visible product toward infrastructure changes driven by cost, scale, and delivery feedback.
- How deep it goes
- Frames infrastructure as a prioritization decision but stops short of implementation procedures or detailed platform design.
- Examples
- Uses a high cloud bill, AWS or Google deployment, load testing, special-character input, and Kubernetes as concrete cases.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate when infrastructure optimization or a more complex platform is justified by cost, scale, and team capacity.
Read how Shipping Go: Develop, deliver, discuss, design, and go again explains infrastructure →
Architecture Modernization: Socio-technical alignment of software, strategy, and structure
Infrastructure is the computing, networking, storage, and operational foundation on which software runs.
- How it is used
- Guides modernization choices by treating infrastructure as a distinct technology dimension for each subsystem or subdomain.
- How deep it goes
- Compares infrastructure shifts through concrete alternatives and scoring, without detailing implementation mechanics.
- Examples
- Uses on-premises-to-cloud, virtual-machines-to-serverless, and Amazon Web Services as concrete infrastructure examples.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate modernization options by scoring how different the target infrastructure will be from the current environment.
Terraform in Depth: Infrastructure as Code with Terraform and OpenTofu
Infrastructure is the collection of computing, networking, storage, and related resources that support systems and services.
- How it is used
- Supports designing, creating, managing, and delivering infrastructure through Terraform.
- How deep it goes
- Explains providers, resources, state, backends, and workspaces, then stops short of detailed vendor-specific configuration.
- Examples
- Uses an AWS virtual machine, DNS records, repositories, and other provider-backed resources as concrete infrastructure examples.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch by mapping a system design to Terraform resources and providers.
LLMs in Production
Infrastructure is the hardware, software, networking, and operational resources that support computing systems.
- How it is used
- Supports the machine learning life cycle by providing the operational foundation for LLM data, models, search, and production systems.
- How deep it goes
- Contrasts laptop-scale infrastructure with LLM production needs and demonstrates a local vector database setup, but stops short of full platform implementation.
- Examples
- Uses a laptop-based scikit-learn system, an LLM platform diagram, and a Docker-hosted Milvus instance as concrete infrastructure examples.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure a local Milvus vector database and evaluate when laptop, in-memory, managed-cloud, or GPU-enabled infrastructure fits.
Think Like a CTO
Infrastructure is the collection of computing, networking, storage, and operational components that support software execution.
- How it is used
- Separates back-office technology responsibilities from the product platform when clarifying organizational ownership.
- How deep it goes
- Distinguishes infrastructure from product technology and names examples, but stops short of implementation or operational procedures.
- Examples
- Uses desktop computers, mail servers, phones, printers, laptops, ISP contracts, and printer ink as infrastructure examples.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate whether infrastructure belongs with IT management, product technology leadership, or a blended small-company role.
Related concepts
- Terraformused by · Terraform is an open-source infrastructure-as-code tool for defining, provisioning, and managing infrastructure resources through declarative configuration.
- business logiccontrasts with · Business logic is the domain-specific rules, computations, and decisions that determine how a software system behaves and processes operations.
- load balancinghas part · Load balancing is the distribution of requests or computational work across multiple resources to manage demand, reduce workload imbalance, and improve utilization or availability.
- infrastructure resourcecontrasts with · An infrastructure resource is an identifiable supporting component or service that provides technical capabilities on which applications or other system components depend.
- serverhas part · A server is a computer system or software process that receives requests from clients or other systems and provides resources, data, or services in response.
These guides are generated from the text of Manning books by Manning's knowledge graph and link to the sections they draw on. The full books are available on liveBook and at manning.com.