3. Core Terraform Workflow (~19%)

This is the most-used knowledge on the exam and on the job: the loop of commands you run to take configuration from text to real infrastructure and back. Each command maps cleanly onto the reconciliation model — plan computes the diff, apply enacts it, destroy reverses it — while init, fmt, and validate keep the working directory ready and the configuration clean. Learn what each command does and, just as important, what it deliberately doesn't do.