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 the 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 in the mind of a Linux system administrator. The fact is that all 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 the 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.
Why isn't there a universal standard for configuration file syntax...