IaC

Abbreviation with 2 meanings

IaC
Stands forInfrastructure as code
Meanings2
CategoriesTechnology & Computing, Law & Legal
Also writtenIAC

IaC has two meanings. It stands for Infrastructure as code (cloud computing) or Ineffective assistance of counsel (criminal law).

Meanings of IaC at a glance

#IaC stands forContext
1Infrastructure as codeTechnology & Computing › Cloud Computing
2Ineffective assistance of counselLaw & Legal › Criminal Law

1. Infrastructure as code

Technology & Computing · Cloud Computing Abbreviations

Managing servers, networks, databases and other infrastructure through machine-readable configuration files kept in version control instead of manual console clicks. Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, Pulumi and Ansible are common IaC tools.

Example: Every change to production networking goes through an IaC pull request, so we can review it and roll it back.

IaC makes environments reproducible, reviewable and quick to rebuild after a disaster. Declarative tools describe the desired end state, while imperative ones list steps. HashiCorp moved Terraform to a source-available license in 2023, prompting the open-source fork OpenTofu. Drift, where real infrastructure diverges from the code, is a common problem.

2. Ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC)

Law & Legal · Criminal Law Abbreviations

Claim that a defendant's lawyer performed so poorly that the defendant was denied the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, warranting a new trial or plea proceeding. It is the most common claim in post-conviction proceedings.

Example: The habeas petition raises IAC, arguing trial counsel never interviewed the alibi witnesses.

Under Strickland v. Washington (1984), the defendant must show deficient performance and prejudice, meaning a reasonable probability of a different outcome. Padilla v. Kentucky (2010) requires counsel to advise noncitizen clients about deportation risks of a plea, and Lafler v. Cooper (2012) applied the test to rejected plea offers.

More cloud computing abbreviations

  • HA – High availability
  • HCL – HashiCorp Configuration Language
  • HPC – High-performance computing
  • IaaS – Infrastructure as a service
  • K8s – Kubernetes
  • KVM – Kernel-based Virtual Machine
  • LB – Load balancer
  • MSP – Managed service provider

See all 63 cloud computing abbreviations →

More criminal law abbreviations

  • FTA – Failure to appear
  • GBMI – Guilty but mentally ill
  • GCT – Good conduct time
  • GJ – Grand jury
  • IST – Incompetent to stand trial
  • LWOP – Life without parole
  • Misd. – Misdemeanor
  • MPC – Model Penal Code

See all 46 criminal law abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.

This entry is for general education and is not legal advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.