The thin line between code and configuration (YAML/Helm rant)
summary
Argues that Helm templates are brittle for large systems, showing name-cohesion bugs that only fail minutes after deploy and calling out Helm templates cause late failures. Demonstrates how YAML lists act like ordered instructions and claims lists in YAML are a code smell. Compares Pulumi, Pickle and CUE as alternatives that add type and schema checking. Recommends a render-manifest pipeline: compile and validate manifests locally (CUE/Pickle/Pulumi) then let Argo CD render plain YAML, reducing surprise failures.
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