Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud computing platform offering a wide range of services, from computing power and storage to databases and networking. It allows developers to build and deploy applications without managing the underlying infrastructure.
Getting Started with AWS
To begin, create an AWS account at aws.amazon.com. You'll need a credit card but don't worry, most services offer free tiers to start with. Once logged in, you'll have access to the AWS Management Console, your control panel for managing services.
Essential AWS Services for Full Stack Developers
API Gateway: This service acts as a front door for applications, allowing you to create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale. Think of it as the receptionist for your application.
Lambda: This serverless compute service lets you run code without provisioning or managing servers. It's perfect for handling API requests, data processing, and it automatically scales to handle any amount of traffic effectively.
What is AWS Lambda? - AWS Lambda - AWS Documentation - Amazon
S3: Just as the name suggests S3 is a simple storage service, Ideal for storing static website content, user uploads, or application data, S3 is an essentially vast digital warehouse in the cloud. You can store virtually unlimited amounts of data. Your data is replicated across multiple facilities for redundancy.
Amplify: This is a full-stack development platform that simplifies building, deploying, and hosting web and mobile applications. It integrates seamlessly with React and other frontend frameworks.
In essence, Amplify streamlines the development process by providing pre-built components and automating many of the infrastructure tasks, making it a great choice for full-stack developers looking to accelerate their projects.
RDS(Relational Database Service): offers managed databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server for storing structured data. It simplifies the setup, operation, and scaling of relational databases in the cloud. Easily adjust database resources (CPU, memory, storage) based on your application's needs. Offers robust security features such as encryption, IAM integration, and network isolation.
Essentially, RDS handles the heavy lifting of database management, allowing developers to focus on application logic rather than database administration.
Amazon Cognito: A crucial service for managing user identities in your AWS applications. It handles user sign-up, sign-in, and authorization, allowing users to access your application and its resources securely. By using Cognito, you can focus on building your application's core features while letting AWS manage the complexities of user authentication and authorization.
So In a Nutshell, API Gateway is just like postman but can create APIs, Lambda is like your server.js except it connects with Database and other AWS services in a much easier way than the traditional connection through middleware, S3 Buckets are just another mongoDB inside AWS, Amplify is GitHub for AWS (fun fact: Amplify supports parallel connections to GitHub), RDS is a relation Db service, and Cognito is an authentication service by Amazon
Remember: This is just a brief overview. AWS is vast, and understanding its full potential requires deeper exploration. However, with this foundation, you can start building cloud-native applications effectively. And try to learn from the AWS official documentation which actually helps more than viewing just a bunch of youtube videos and other online courses!
Although I haven't explained anything through codes or a hands-on workshop but it's actually simple to just get an idea and start at a very slow pace and since it's a pay-as-you-go (Paying only for the resources used, offering flexibility and cost-efficiency.) on most of it's services, so it'd be a great experience for budding developers to have a look.