What language are nginx conf files

Nginx configuration files (typically with a .conf extension) are written using a Nginx-specific configuration language, which is a declarative language designed to specify the behavior of the Nginx server. This language is specifically tailored for configuring various aspects of Nginx, including server listening ports, the use of location blocks to handle specific URIs, load balancing configurations, caching behaviors, redirect rules, and more. Statements within the configuration file primarily rely on simple key-value pairs and adhere to their own structure and syntax rules. For example, a basic Nginx configuration file may contain the following:

nginx
events {
    worker_connections 1024;
}

http {
    server {
        listen 80;
        server_name example.com www.example.com;

        location / {
            root /var/www/html;
            index index.html index.htm;
        }

        location /images/ {
            root /var/www/images;
        }
    }
}

The example above illustrates a simple Nginx configuration that specifies the number of worker connections for the events module (events), the HTTP server listening port (port 80), server names, and two location blocks to handle requests for the website root directory and image directory. Although this configuration language is concise, it is powerful and capable of supporting complex network server setups. By combining various directives and modules, users can create efficient, flexible, and secure configurations for Nginx.

So I'm new to Nginx and have the same question. It turns out that the syntax of this language is custom and actually very simple. The syntax is described in a section of the NGINX documentation; for convenience, it is repeated here: [https://nginx.org/en/docs/beginners_guide.html#conf_structure]

Nginx is composed of modules controlled by directives specified in the configuration file. Directives are divided into simple directives and block directives. A simple directive consists of a name and parameters, separated by spaces, and ends with a semicolon (;). Block directives have the same structure as simple directives, but they do not end with a semicolon; instead, they end with a set of additional directives enclosed in curly braces ({ and }). If a block directive can contain other directives within curly braces, it is called a context (e.g., events, http, server, and location).

Directives placed outside any context in the configuration file are considered to be in the main context. The events and http directives reside in the main context, the server resides in http, and location resides in server.

Lines following the # symbol are considered comments.

In summary: All content in the NGINX configuration file consists of directives that may reference variables. All directives are listed in alphabetical order here, and all variables are listed in alphabetical order here. NGINX configuration is driven by modules, each implementing specific functionality and providing directives and variables that can be used in the configuration. That's it.

This is why even if (which looks like a keyword in traditional programming languages) is actually just a directive provided by the module. ngx_http_rewrite_module [link]

I hope this helps!

P.S. Also check https://devdocs.io/, especially https://devdocs.io/nginx, for improved methods of searching and using NGINX documentation.