How does idempotency make puppet special

Question

I read somewhere that idempotency is one of the greatest puppet features. I'm just not sure how. Can somebody explain that to me?

Answer 1

idempotency helps in managing a particular machine throughout its lifecycle starting from the creation of machine, configuration to its no longer being used. This feature is very useful in keeping the machine updated for years instead of rebuilding the same machine multiple times when it calls for a configuration change.