This shows some examples of ARM and Terraform templates. The below are some slides around comparing the two. Both are great options and provide the abilty to do Infrastructure as Code.
Please see the feature comparison at the end of the slides below.
To see a set of ARM templates using nesting (linked templates), complex data types, loops (entire resource or sub-resource), if statements (entire resource or just a sub-resource), etc. please see: https://github.com/AdamPaternostro/Azure-Sample-ARM-Template-Architecture
If you are inclined to use YAML instead of JSON for ARM templates you can consider these options.
- https://blog.mexia.com.au/writing-arm-templates-in-yaml
- https://brokenco.de/2017/01/24/usable-arm-templates.html
- Request via User Voice: https://feedback.azure.com/forums/281804-azure-resource-manager/suggestions/14885034-add-support-for-yaml-deployment-templates
