Configuration Languages Are the Bane of Our Existence - From Simple Constants to Complex Programs

Explore the complexities and challenges of configuration languages in this 21-minute conference talk from SREcon24 Europe/Middle East/Africa. Delve into why simple configuration changes often evolve into complex, untested programs written in untyped languages that require significant computational resources and lack proper validation. Learn about historical warning signs like sendmail.cf, understand the pitfalls of using regular expressions for configuration matching, and examine when configuration complexity begins to overshadow the actual program functionality. Gain insights into whether returning to simpler ini files could provide a solution to modern configuration challenges, and discover practical approaches for managing program constants without falling into common configuration language traps.