Understand Humanitec’s Resource Graph in detail

In this article, we discuss the core logic of graph-based backends in Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs) and how they utilize Resource Graphs for standardizing infrastructure setups and automating software delivery. A Resource Graph is a representation of the relationship between a workload and its dependent resources that need to be provisioned during deployment, built using Resource Definitions. The Humanitec Platform Orchestrator uses these graphs to determine the order in which resources should be provisioned. Developers can add resources to the graph by specifying Resource Dependencies in their Score workload specification, while platform teams can add resources via Resource References or advanced mechanisms like Co-Provisioning and Resource Selectors. The Resource Graph is a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), ensuring that references forming loops are not allowed. Examples of how the Resource Graph works with different types of resources are provided, demonstrating its ability to handle complex scenarios while shielding developers from underlying complexity.