beginner 10 min overview getting-started Updated: 2025-10-11

Policy-as-Code: Complete Beginner's Journey (2025)

Your complete journey from policy-as-code beginner to advanced practitioner. Start here for step-by-step learning path.

🎯 Your Policy-as-Code Learning Journey

1

Foundations

Understand what Policy-as-Code is and core concepts

2

First Steps

Write your first policies with hands-on tutorials

3

Deep Dive

Master policy languages like OPA Rego and Cedar

🏷️ Topics Covered

policy as code beginner complete guideinfrastructure governance learning pathopa rego tutorial beginner to advancedpolicy as code getting started 2025devops policy automation tutorialinfrastructure compliance learning guide

Foundations

Core concepts and language basics

beginner 10 min read

What is Policy-as-Code?

Understanding the fundamentals of policy-as-code and why it matters for modern infrastructure.

what is policy as code for beginnerspolicy as code vs traditional infrastructure managementpolicy as code benefits and use cases
beginner 15 min read

Policy Language Basics

Learn the common patterns and syntax used in policy definitions across different tools.

policy language syntax comparisonrego vs sentinel vs cedar policy languageshow to choose policy language
beginner 20 min read

Writing Your First Policy

A hands-on tutorial to create, test, and deploy your first infrastructure policy.

how to write your first policy as codestep by step policy tutorial for beginnerspolicy as code getting started guide

First Steps

Write your first policies

beginner 30 min read

Complete Guide: How to Write Your First Kubernetes Policy

A step-by-step tutorial on writing, testing, and deploying your first Open Policy Agent (OPA) Gatekeeper policy to enforce custom rules on your Kubernetes cluster.

kubernetes admission controller tutorialopa gatekeeper first policy examplehow to write kubernetes policies step by step
beginner 20 min read

Writing Your First Policy

A hands-on tutorial to create, test, and deploy your first infrastructure policy.

how to write your first policy as codestep by step policy tutorial for beginnerspolicy as code getting started guide
beginner 15 min read

Policy Language Basics

Learn the common patterns and syntax used in policy definitions across different tools.

policy language syntax comparisonrego vs sentinel vs cedar policy languageshow to choose policy language
intermediate 25 min read

OPA vs Sentinel: Enterprise Policy as Code Comparison (2025)

A comprehensive comparison of Open Policy Agent (OPA) and HashiCorp Sentinel for policy as code. Compare language, use cases, integrations, ecosystem, and enterprise features to choose the right solution.

opa vs sentinelopen policy agent vs sentinelrego vs sentinel language
intermediate 25 min read

CI/CD for Terraform with GitHub Actions (2025 Guide)

A comprehensive guide to building a production-ready CI/CD pipeline for Terraform using GitHub Actions. Covers OIDC authentication, workflow setup, pull request checks, and automated deployment.

terraform github actions tutorial 2025ci cd pipeline for terraformgithub actions terraform workflow
intermediate 40 min read

Open Policy Agent (OPA) Tutorial

An in-depth, hands-on guide to learning Open Policy Agent and the Rego language for unified policy enforcement across your stack.

opa rego tutorial for beginnersopen policy agent getting started guidehow to write rego policies step by step
intermediate 30 min read

Cedar Policy Language Guide

Learn the fundamentals of Cedar, the high-performance policy language from AWS, for building secure and auditable application authorization.

cedar policy language tutorialaws cedar vs opa comparisonhow to write cedar policies
intermediate 45 min read

OPA & Terraform: The Definitive Guide to Policy-as-Code Guardrails (2025 Edition)

Master the integration of Open Policy Agent (OPA) with Terraform to enforce security, compliance, and operational best practices on your infrastructure as code.

opa terraform integration tutorialterraform policy validation with opaterraform opa conftest examples

Deep Dive

Master policy languages

intermediate 40 min read

Open Policy Agent (OPA) Tutorial

An in-depth, hands-on guide to learning Open Policy Agent and the Rego language for unified policy enforcement across your stack.

opa rego tutorial for beginnersopen policy agent getting started guidehow to write rego policies step by step
intermediate 30 min read

Cedar Policy Language Guide

Learn the fundamentals of Cedar, the high-performance policy language from AWS, for building secure and auditable application authorization.

cedar policy language tutorialaws cedar vs opa comparisonhow to write cedar policies
intermediate 45 min read

OPA & Terraform: The Definitive Guide to Policy-as-Code Guardrails (2025 Edition)

Master the integration of Open Policy Agent (OPA) with Terraform to enforce security, compliance, and operational best practices on your infrastructure as code.

opa terraform integration tutorialterraform policy validation with opaterraform opa conftest examples

All Beginner-Friendly Guides

beginner 10 min read

What is Policy-as-Code?

Understanding the fundamentals of policy-as-code and why it matters for modern infrastructure.
beginner 15 min read

Policy Language Basics

Learn the common patterns and syntax used in policy definitions across different tools.
beginner 20 min read

Writing Your First Policy

A hands-on tutorial to create, test, and deploy your first infrastructure policy.
intermediate 40 min read

Open Policy Agent (OPA) Tutorial

An in-depth, hands-on guide to learning Open Policy Agent and the Rego language for unified policy enforcement across your stack.
intermediate 30 min read

Cedar Policy Language Guide

Learn the fundamentals of Cedar, the high-performance policy language from AWS, for building secure and auditable application authorization.
intermediate 45 min read

OPA & Terraform: The Definitive Guide to Policy-as-Code Guardrails (2025 Edition)

Master the integration of Open Policy Agent (OPA) with Terraform to enforce security, compliance, and operational best practices on your infrastructure as code.
beginner 30 min read

Complete Guide: How to Write Your First Kubernetes Policy

A step-by-step tutorial on writing, testing, and deploying your first Open Policy Agent (OPA) Gatekeeper policy to enforce custom rules on your Kubernetes cluster.
intermediate 25 min read

Azure Policy Deep Dive

Master Azure Policy definitions, initiatives, and compliance assessments.
advanced 35 min read

AWS IAM Policy Mastery

A deep dive into crafting, managing, and auditing effective AWS IAM policies using policy-as-code principles.
beginner 15 min read

How to Fix Common Terraform Init Backend Errors (2025)

A step-by-step troubleshooting guide to resolving the most common backend configuration and initialization errors in Terraform, including S3, Azure, GCS, and remote state issues.
advanced 40 min read

AWS Config Rules & Compliance Automation

Implement automated compliance monitoring with AWS Config Rules, custom evaluations, and remediation actions for continuous governance.
advanced 45 min read

AWS CloudFormation Guard Policies Complete Guide

Write and deploy CloudFormation Guard rules for infrastructure validation, security enforcement, and compliance checking in your AWS deployments.
advanced 38 min read

AWS Security Hub & GuardDuty Integration

Implement comprehensive AWS security monitoring with Security Hub, GuardDuty, and automated incident response for threat detection and compliance.
beginner 30 min read

AWS Tagging Strategy & Resource Governance

Design and implement comprehensive AWS tagging strategies for cost allocation, security, compliance, and automated resource management.
intermediate 30 min read

Enforcing CIS Benchmarks

Write policies to automate compliance checks for CIS security standards.
intermediate 35 min read

Security Policy Frameworks

Implement comprehensive security policy systems using policy-as-code. Learn enterprise security frameworks, compliance automation, and governance.
intermediate 20 min read

Data Sovereignty Policies

Ensure data residency compliance with location-based resource policies.
advanced 28 min read

Infrastructure Drift Detection

Advanced techniques for detecting configuration drift in cloud infrastructure.
intermediate 20 min read

Data Sovereignty Policies

Combine encryption policies with location restrictions to ensure data residency and compliance.
advanced 35 min read

Cloud Security Compliance

Implement and automate compliance frameworks like SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI DSS using policy-as-code.
advanced 40 min read

Advanced Audit Trails and Compliance Reporting

Advanced audit trails and compliance reporting using policy-as-code. Learn automated evidence collection, regulatory frameworks, and real-time monitoring.
advanced 30 min read

Incident Response Procedures

Create and automate incident response procedures using policy-as-code to rapidly contain and recover from security events.
advanced 28 min read

Infrastructure Drift Detection

Advanced techniques for detecting and managing configuration drift in your cloud environments.
advanced 30 min read

Terraform Sentinel Policies

Write and test Sentinel policies for Terraform Enterprise deployments.
advanced 35 min read

Mastering Secure Deployment and Configurations

Comprehensive guide to implementing secure deployment pipelines, configuration management, and best practices for enterprise-grade security.
advanced 35 min read

Terraform Cloud Integration

Learn advanced Terraform Cloud features for collaboration, governance, and automation.
intermediate 25 min read

CI/CD for Terraform with GitHub Actions (2025 Guide)

A comprehensive guide to building a production-ready CI/CD pipeline for Terraform using GitHub Actions. Covers OIDC authentication, workflow setup, pull request checks, and automated deployment.
advanced 30 min read

Securing CI/CD Pipelines (2025 Guide)

A practical guide to securing CI/CD pipelines. Covers secret management, dependency scanning (SCA), static analysis (SAST), and software supply chain security.
advanced 50 min read

Terraform Best Practices: The Definitive Guide

A comprehensive guide to enterprise-grade Terraform, covering project structure, state management, modules, CI/CD, and security best practices.
beginner 8 min read

How to Fix Common Terraform Init Backend Errors

A step-by-step troubleshooting guide to resolving the most common backend configuration and initialization errors in Terraform.
advanced 25 min read

Multi-Environment Policies

Manage and apply different policy rules across your development, staging, and production stages.
expert 40 min read

Advanced Policy Patterns

Explore complex policy design for dynamic, data-driven, and context-aware infrastructure governance.
intermediate 45 min read

Cloud Security Policies: Implement Cloud-Specific Security Controls

Implement cloud-specific security controls using policy-as-code. Learn AWS, Azure, and GCP security automation with comprehensive examples.
advanced 30 min read

OPA Gatekeeper Tutorial

A step-by-step guide to installing, configuring, and writing your first policies with Open Policy Agent (OPA) Gatekeeper on Kubernetes.

Continue Your Journey

🏗️ AWS Policy-as-Code Mastery

Dive deep into AWS-specific policies →

⚙️ Kubernetes Governance

Master Kubernetes policy enforcement →