Principles & Core Concepts

This section is the main conceptual entry point of C2 Platform.

It is intended for multiple audiences: Ansible engineers, managers in Dutch government organizations, and ICT suppliers who first need to understand the platform model before moving into detailed implementation and how-to pages.

Principles

Principles explain the philosophy behind C2 Platform.

• Open, unless: Prefer open-source reuse and collaboration unless legal or security constraints require otherwise.
• Engineer Autonomy: Give engineers the tools and responsibility to build and test complete environments early.
• Everything as Code: Treat repeatable infrastructure, configuration, and documentation as versioned code.
• Single Source of Truth: Keep the intended state in Git so delivery, review, and collaboration work from one source.
• Learn by Example: Prefer working examples that can be copied, studied, and adapted over abstract theory alone.

Core Concepts

Core concepts explain the main building blocks of the platform.

• Ansible Automation Platform: The main automation engine used to define and apply repeatable system changes.
• GitLab Ultimate: The collaboration and delivery platform that keeps code, review, and pipelines together.
• Reference Implementations: Working examples that show how C2 Platform patterns fit together in practice.
• Development Environment: The environment engineers use to build, test, and learn platform automation without long delays.