[JohnMakin]

null_resource is being deprecated in favor of terraform_data:

https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/language/resources...

~8 years in or so with terraform and I've found null_resource to be a useful crutch in doing things like, "take this source and compile it with this script that'll basically never change, then put it somewhere that's defined in terraform." Overly relying on this mechanism feels like terraform code smell to me, just from my personal experience, if that's even a thing.

[mrmattyboy]

Absolutely, needs-and-musts, it's certainly not a nice thing.. but again, Terraform isn't a scripting language, so sometimes bits of hack are needed!