Declarative Description

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Discussion

A Declarative Description states a required result, selected inputs, relationships, constraints, or conditions without prescribing every procedural step used to realize them.

A processing system interprets the description and determines the operations required to produce, verify, or maintain the stated result.

A Declarative Description may contain structured declarations, references, parameters, dependencies, precedence rules, and validation constraints. Its declarative nature concerns the separation between the stated result and the detailed procedure used to realize that result.

A Crucible Description is a specialized Declarative Description that binds the inputs and intended lifecycle operations for a Crucible build or deployment.

Definition

machine-processable description that states a required result, selected inputs, relationships, constraints, or conditions without prescribing every procedural step used to realize them

Source

Generalised from declarative programming, configuration management, infrastructure as code, orchestration, and model-driven engineering usage.

Note

A Declarative Description may include ordering constraints, conditions, references, and parameters. Declarative does not mean unstructured, non-executable, or free of processing semantics.

A procedural description specifies the steps to perform. A Declarative Description specifies the result, relationships, constraints, or conditions that a processing system uses to determine those steps.

An unlinked use of the ordinary word “description” does not necessarily identify a Declarative Description.

Example

A Declarative Description states that a target environment requires three compute nodes, a defined network, an approved machine image, and a specified security posture. An orchestration system determines the detailed provider operations required to realize that result.

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