CDK
Definition
Cloud Development Kit - framework for defining cloud infrastructure using familiar programming languages, simplifying deployment and management.
Use Cases
- Amazon: Provisioning repeatable AWS environments for internal teams (networking, IAM roles, logging, and application stacks) with consistent security defaults — Teams use AWS CDK to create reusable constructs (for example, standardized VPC, IAM policies, and CI/CD pipelines) and deploy them through AWS CloudFormation across multiple accounts and regions (Faster environment creation, improved consistency across teams, and reduced configuration drift through version-controlled infrastructure definitions)
- Accenture: Delivering standardized cloud landing zones and application infrastructure for multiple client projects on AWS — Engineers build CDK-based libraries of reusable patterns (constructs) and integrate deployments into automated CI/CD workflows so new projects can bootstrap infrastructure from code (More repeatable project delivery, fewer manual provisioning steps, and easier governance by reusing approved infrastructure patterns)
Provider Equivalents
- AWS: AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK)
- Azure: Azure Bicep
- GCP: Google Cloud Deployment Manager
- OCI: OCI Resource Manager
Frequently Asked Questions
- What's the difference between AWS CDK and CloudFormation?
- CloudFormation uses JSON/YAML templates to describe AWS resources. AWS CDK lets you define the same resources using programming languages like TypeScript, Python, Java, C#, or Go. CDK then synthesizes (generates) a CloudFormation template and deploys it, so CloudFormation is still the underlying deployment engine.
- When should I use CDK?
- Use CDK when you want to define infrastructure with real programming features (loops, conditions, functions, testing, and reusable components), share infrastructure patterns as libraries, or keep infrastructure code in the same language ecosystem as your application. If your team prefers simple, declarative templates and minimal tooling, a template-first approach (like CloudFormation YAML or Bicep) may be a better fit.
- How much does CDK cost?
- AWS CDK itself is free and open source. You pay for the AWS resources it creates (for example, EC2, Lambda, VPC endpoints) and for any supporting services used during deployment (commonly CloudFormation; also S3 for assets, ECR for container images, and possibly CodeBuild/CodePipeline if you use them). Costs depend on what you deploy and how often you update environments.
Category: software
Difficulty: advanced
Related Terms
See Also