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The 3 “Best” Config File Formats

There are countless configuration file formats. Some are custom-designed for a specific application, such as those used by the Apache webserver or BIND. But more commonly these days, new applications use some sort of standardized configuration file formats, such as YAML, JSON, XML, or INI. Some applications, such as WordPress even use executable code as configuration files.

Most modern languages have libraries that will let you read (and in some cases, write) to a wide variety of configuration formats. Go’s Viper package supports 6 distinct file formats. Perl’s Config::Any supports 5 (plus executable Perl code).

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Are You 12-Factor Application Ready?

The 12-Factor Application principles for flexible applications.

There are a lot of frameworks in app development, but not all of them are tailored for today’s cloud environment. Many of them lack modularity and flexibility; some don’t even leverage the benefits of using cloud computing. The 12-Factor application principles are designed specifically for modern, containerized cloud environments from the beginning. Each component is tailored to the flexibility of containers and cloud deployment, all while creating a standard for every team member—and third-party developers— to follow.

At the same time, the 12-Factor app creates a more straightforward approach to developing a cloud app with microservices. It takes into account the need for a positive user experience and how virtual environments can be utilized for higher availability.

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Container Devs

To understand the current and future state of containers, we gathered insights from 33 IT executives who are actively using containers. We asked, "What do developers need to keep in mind when working on containers?"

Here's what they told us: