Is better to use Hiera or basic node definition? - puppet

Question

Which is better for Puppet 3.7 or newer ?
1- Hiera with Yaml definition as
ubuntu.yaml:
---
classes:
- google-chrome
- xcode
2- Base node definition as
node.pp:
node "ubuntu" {
include google-chrome
include xcode
}

Answer 1

I think you misunderstand purpose of using hiera. According to documentation:
Hiera is a key/value lookup tool for configuration data, built to make Puppet better and let you set node-specific data without repeating yourself.
Hiera gives you a versatile way to deliver configuration parameters. So in my opinion "2- Base node definition", with hiera as configuration provider is proper way of using puppet with hiera.
E.g: instead of definig:
node node1 {
class { 'some_class_1' :
param_1 => value1,
param_2 => value2,
}
class { 'some_class_2' :
param_1 => value3,
param_2 => value4,
}
}
node node2 {
class { 'some_class_1' :
param_1 => value11,
param_2 => value22,
}
class { 'some_class_2' :
param_1 => value33,
param_2 => value44,
}
}
Use hiera as configuration provider. In puppet define only:
node some_regexp { #or just provide node names
include some_class_1
include some_class_2
}
than define proper hiera files:
node1.yaml
some_class_1::param_1: value1
some_class_1::param_2: value2
some_class_2::param_1: value3
some_class_2::param_2: value4
node2.yaml
some_class_1::param_1: value11
some_class_1::param_2: value22
some_class_2::param_1: value33
some_class_2::param_2: value44