A configuration file is generally a text file that is edited by the administrator and parsed by a program. By specifying a set of values, you define the behavior of the program. In Linux-based operating systems, a large share of applications rely on vast, complex configuration files, which often turn out to be a nightmare to manage. Apache, Qmail, and Bind—all these names bring up bad memories. The fact is that all of these applications use their own configuration file with different syntaxes and styles. PHP works with a Windows-style .ini
file, sendmail uses the M4 macro-processor to compile configuration files, Zabbix pulls its configuration from a MySQL database, and so on. There is, unfortunately, no well-established standard, and the same applies to Nginx—you will be required to study a new syntax with its own particularities and its own vocabulary.
On the other hand (and this is one of its advantages), configuring Nginx turns out to be rather simple—at least...