I really wish Ansible would have chosen to use python instead of YAML (since that's what it ends up being anyways). Shoehorning actual programming logic into YAML files is just awful; Working with Ansible as a software engineer is without a doubt the worst work I've done in my professional career. Every otherwise simple logic structure in any programming language like loops, variable declaration, or conditional statements take 5x as much space and are very difficult to understand immediately.
My first love in this space was Chef, and honestly it remains my favorite in config management because you can write things in it that look very non-programmy, but you're still just writing in pure ruby. Obviously Ansible has the advantage being agentless, but I just cannot stand how popular it is.
My first love in this space was Chef, and honestly it remains my favorite in config management because you can write things in it that look very non-programmy, but you're still just writing in pure ruby. Obviously Ansible has the advantage being agentless, but I just cannot stand how popular it is.