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Crossplane Advanced Patterns

Welcome to the advanced section where you'll learn to build reusable infrastructure patterns using Crossplane v2's most powerful feature: Compositions.

What You'll Master

By the end of this section, you'll be able to:

  • ✅ Design Composite Resource APIs that abstract complexity from developers
  • ✅ Build Compositions that provision multiple Azure resources together
  • ✅ Create Developer-Friendly Interfaces for infrastructure self-service
  • ✅ Implement Environment Strategies for dev/staging/prod workflows
  • ✅ Handle Complex Resource Dependencies and relationships

From Resources to Platforms

In the fundamentals section, you learned to create individual cloud resources. Now we'll combine multiple resources into cohesive, reusable patterns that developers can easily consume.

The Platform Engineering Journey

graph LR
    A[Individual Resources<br/>Resource Groups] --> B[Composed Resources<br/>Complete Environments]
    B --> C[Developer Platform<br/>Self-Service APIs]
    C --> D[Production Platform<br/>Multi-Environment]

    style A fill:#e1f5fe
    style B fill:#f3e5f5
    style C fill:#e8f5e8
    style D fill:#fff3e0

Key Concepts Preview

Composite Resource Definition (XRD)

Purpose: Defines the API that developers use to request infrastructure Analogy: Like defining a function signature - what parameters it takes and what it returns

Composition

Purpose: Implementation of how to build the infrastructure Analogy: Like the function body - the actual logic that creates resources

Composite Resource (XR)

Purpose: The instance created when someone uses your API Analogy: Like a function call result - the actual running instance

Module Overview

Module 1: Your First Composition (45 minutes)

What you'll build: A complete development environment with networking and compute resources

Learning focus: - XRD design and API patterns - Basic Composition structure - Resource patching and templating - GitOps deployment of platform components

Deliverables: - Working development environment API - Reusable Composition for team use - Developer documentation

Module 2: Networking Composition (30 minutes)

What you'll add: Virtual networks, subnets, and security groups to your environment

Learning focus: - Resource dependencies and references - Advanced patching strategies - Network security patterns - Multi-resource orchestration

Deliverables: - Complete networking stack Composition - Security best practices implementation - Cross-resource reference patterns

Module 3: Environment Patterns (60 minutes)

What you'll implement: Different compositions for dev, staging, and production environments

Learning focus: - Environment-specific configurations - Resource sizing and scaling patterns - Cost optimization strategies - Multi-composition management

Deliverables: - Environment-aware platform - Cost-optimized resource patterns - Production-ready governance

Prerequisites Review

Ensure you've completed the Crossplane Fundamentals section:

  • ✅ Azure provider configured and working
  • ✅ Successfully created managed resources
  • ✅ Understanding of Crossplane architecture
  • ✅ Comfortable with GitOps workflows

Design Philosophy

Developer Experience First

  • Simple APIs: Hide complexity behind easy-to-use interfaces
  • Self-documenting: APIs that explain themselves
  • Fail-fast: Clear error messages and validation
  • Consistent: Same patterns work across environments

Production Ready

  • Security integrated: Proper RBAC and secret management
  • Monitoring built-in: Health checks and observability
  • Scalable patterns: Handle growth from dev to enterprise
  • GitOps native: Everything managed through version control

Enterprise Patterns

  • Governance embedded: Policy and compliance built-in
  • Multi-tenant aware: Isolation and resource limits
  • Cost conscious: Right-sizing and optimization
  • Team collaborative: Clear ownership and interfaces

Real-World Impact

After completing this section, you'll have built a complete Internal Developer Platform that:

  • Developers love: Simple YAML requests complex infrastructure
  • Operations trust: Secure, compliant, and monitored
  • Business supports: Cost-effective and scalable
  • Teams adopt: Clear documentation and examples

Time Investment

Total time: ~2.5 hours of hands-on exercises Format: Self-paced with immediate feedback
Approach: Build working platform incrementally

Success Criteria

You'll know you've mastered these patterns when you can:

  • [ ] Design intuitive APIs for infrastructure consumption
  • [ ] Build Compositions that handle complex resource relationships
  • [ ] Implement proper error handling and validation
  • [ ] Create environment-specific deployment patterns
  • [ ] Document and share platform capabilities with teams

Ready to Build?

Let's start by creating your first Composition - a complete development environment that developers can request with a simple YAML file.

➡️ Module 1: Your First Composition

Platform Engineering Mindset

As you work through these modules, think like a platform engineer:

Questions to Ask

  • How can I make this easier for developers?
  • What failure modes should I handle gracefully?
  • How will this scale as the team grows?
  • What would good documentation look like?
  • How can I enforce best practices automatically?

Principles to Follow

  • Abstract complexity, not capability
  • Fail fast with clear error messages
  • Document by example
  • Version APIs thoughtfully
  • Monitor everything