CDK generates Logical IDs used by the CloudFormation to track and identify resources. In this post, I’ll explain what Logical IDs are, how they’re generated, and why they’re important. Understanding this will help you avoid unexpected resource deletions and baffling “resource already exists” errors during deployment.
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AWS
Running Serverless ML on AWS Lambda
Yes, you can run Machine Learning models on serverless, directly with AWS Lambda. I know because I built and productionized such solutions. It’s not complicated, but there are a few things to be aware of. I explain them in this in-depth tutorial, where we build a serverless ML pipeline.
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AWS
Headless CMS with Gatsby on AWS for $0.00 per month
Can you have a website with a CMS on AWS and not pay just for its existence? I looked at Amazon Lightsail, headless WordPress, and Webiny CMS but found none of those suitable. So I choose Prismic – a SaaS headless CMS, and Gatsby to create the site. Yes, I needed to make a pipeline to build my website after content changes. But when I did it, I got a website with CMS hosted at no cost.
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AWS
Choosing between SQS, SNS, Kinesis, and EventBridge
AWS can overwhelm with the number of services. Especially if multiple services seem to do a very similar job. Let’s look at the cloud-native AWS messaging services – the SQS, SNS, Kinesis, and EventBridge. What are the differences and when to use which one?
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AWS
AWS JavaScript SDK v3 – usage, problems, testing
The new version of AWS SDK for JavaScript / TypeScript / Node.js came with a few significant improvements. But does “General Availability” mean “ready for the production”? How to use it? And how to unit test our code using it? Let’s take a look at it.
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AWS
AWS Lambda logging best practices
Logging in AWS Lambda functions is simple. You just print the message, and it’s sent to the CloudWatch Logs. And everything is fine until you get a surprisingly big bill for the CloudWatch usage, or you need to actually debug some live system. Here are my tips for logging in AWS Lambda, based on my experience with real-live, big-scale functions running on production.
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Tools
Pin exact dependency versions
Buckle up, for some of you this may be controversial, but maybe for some others – obvious. This is how to prevent a problem causing your application to out of the sudden stop behaving correctly, or, even more funny, stop behaving correctly only on one developer’s computer. We can solve this with one two simple tricks.
Programming
Minimal safe Bash script template
Bash scripts. Almost anyone needs to write one sooner or later. Almost no one says “yeah, I love writing them”. And that’s why almost everyone is putting low attention while writing them.
I won’t try to make you a Bash expert (since I’m not a one either), but I will show you a minimal template that will make your scripts safer. You don’t need to thank me, your future self will thank you.
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AWS
Auto-generated website environment parameters
There are multiple articles on how to host a static website or Single Page Application (SPA) on AWS. But they rarely go into the topic of setting up the environment variables for the frontend application.
Let’s look beyond the part where most tutorials end – with the website deployed, how to parametrize it to call correct backend APIs and resources. We will look at the usual deployment process and improve it. In the end, the application will automatically reference the services from its own environment, both when deployed and locally.
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AWS Tools
My AWS toolbox – tools, plugins and applications
Developers, like all specialists, discover and collect their favorite tools over time. Having a good, proven set of tools makes the work easier and more pleasant. We can focus on getting the job done. Sometimes eliminating minor inconveniences or improving a small element of everyday activity makes the greatest impact on the comfort of work.
It’s not always easy to find the best tools. There is a wide choice. More importantly, everyone has different habits and preferences. The best way is to test them yourself and see what suits you.
To help a little bit with that, here I present a collection of my AWS tools. These are applications, plugins, and extensions that I use in my daily work with AWS.
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