What is a ConfigMap and when would you use it over an environment variable?

A ConfigMap stores non-sensitive configuration data as key-value pairs. It decouples your configuration from your container image.

Use ConfigMaps over hardcoded env vars when:

• Config needs to differ between environments (dev/staging/prod)
• Multiple pods share the same configuration
• You need to mount config as a file (e.g., nginx.conf, prometheus.yml)

For sensitive data like passwords, use a Secret instead of a ConfigMap.