kubectl apply is a declarative management command used to create or update Kubernetes resources based on configuration files.
When you run kubectl apply, Kubernetes performs a three-way merge to calculate differences between the current state, last applied configuration, and the new configuration.
The command can be used for initial deployment, updating resources, GitOps/CI/CD pipelines, and managing multiple resources.
Proper usage of kubectl apply is essential for Kubernetes administrators to ensure consistent and repeatable deployments.