AWS provides a wide variety of services and tools for application deployment that allow developers to automate workflows, manage resources and enhance the scalability of their applications. In the scope of the AWS certified developer-associate (DVA-C02) exam, understanding these tools is indispensable. This post shall explore some of these tools – CloudFormation, AWS Cloud Development Kit, AWS SAM, AWS CodeArtifact, AWS Copilot, Amplify, Lambda – and their application in deployment.
AWS CloudFormation
AWS CloudFormation provides developers and system operators an easy way to create a collection of related AWS resources and provision them in an orderly and predictable way. Users can advantageously use AWS CloudFormation templates to describe the resources and any associated dependencies or runtime parameters required to operate the application.
For example, you could have a CloudFormation template that automates the process of setting up an Amazon SNS Topic, an AWS Lambda function that’s triggered by the topic, and an Amazon DynamoDB table that the Lambda function updates. The use of AWS CloudFormation in this case will save you the time of creating and configuring these resources individually.
AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK)
The AWS CDK is an open-source software development framework to model and provision cloud application resources using familiar programming languages, including TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, C#, and Java. CDK simplifies the process of setting up a cloud environment by letting developers define resources using a high-level, object-oriented, type-safe language.
A simple AWS CDK Python script to set up a S3 bucket would look something like this:
from aws_cdk import (
aws_s3 as s3,
core
)
class MyFirstBucket(core.Stack):
def __init__(self, scope: core.Construct, id: str, kwargs):
super().__init__(scope, id, kwargs)
s3.Bucket(self,
"MyFirstBucket",
versioned=True,)
app = core.App()
MyFirstBucket(app, "my-first-bucket")
app.synth()
AWS Serverless Application Model (AWS SAM)
AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM) is an open-source framework for building serverless applications. It consists of the AWS SAM template specification that you use to define your serverless application and the AWS SAM CLI that you use to build, bundle, and deploy your serverless application.
The following is a simple AWS SAM YAML configuration:
Resources:
MyDynamoDBTable:
Type: AWS::DynamoDB::Table
Properties:
TableName: MyDynamoDBTable
AttributeDefinitions:
-
AttributeName: id
AttributeType: N
KeySchema:
-
AttributeName: id
KeyType: HASH
ProvisionedThroughput:
ReadCapacityUnits: 5
WriteCapacityUnits: 5
AWS CodeArtifact
AWS CodeArtifact is a fully managed artifact repository compatible with language-native package managers and build tools like Maven and Gradle (Java), npm and yarn (JavaScript), and pip and twine (Python). CodeArtifact can be integrated with CI/CD pipelines and other development workflows.
AWS Copilot
AWS Copilot is a command-line interface that simplifies the building, releasing, and operating production-ready containerized applications on Amazon ECS and AWS Fargate.
For example, you could set up a front-end web service that is accessible over the internet and communicates with a back-end service that’s not publicly accessible but can be accessed by the front-end service. All of this can be set up using simple AWS Copilot commands:
copilot init --app frontend
copilot svc init --name frontend-service --svc-type "Load Balanced Web Service"
copilot deploy
Amplify
The Amplify Console provides a Git-based workflow for hosting full stack serverless web applications with continuous deployment.
Lambda
AWS Lambda is a compute service that lets you run code without provisioning or managing servers. It will automatically scale your application by running your code in response to each trigger. Your code runs in parallel and processes each trigger individually, scaling precisely with the size of the workload.
In conclusion, these AWS services and tools serve to make application deployment an efficient and simplified process. Gaining practical experience with each will enhance your AWS knowledge and operational capabilities, bringing you closer to achieving an AWS Certified Developer – Associate (DVA-C02) certification.
Practice Test
True or False: AWS CloudFormation allows users to use programming languages to model and provision AWS resources.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: AWS CloudFormation provides a common language for you to describe and provision all the infrastructure resources in your cloud environment.
AWS SAM stands for?
- AWS Serverless Asset Model
- AWS Serverless Application Model
- AWS Serverless Adjustment Model
- AWS Serverless Authentication Model
Answer: AWS Serverless Application Model
Explanation: AWS SAM is an open-source framework for building serverless applications. It extends AWS CloudFormation to provide a simplified way to define the Amazon API Gateway APIs, AWS Lambda functions, and Amazon DynamoDB tables needed by your serverless application.
Which AWS service simplifies the management of your Python and Java libraries?
- AWS Lambda
- AWS Amplify
- AWS Copilot
- AWS CodeArtifact
Answer: AWS CodeArtifact
Explanation: AWS CodeArtifact is a fully managed software package repository service that makes it easy for organizations of any size to securely store, share, and deploy software packages used in their software development process.
True or False: AWS CDK allows you to define your cloud resources using a familiar programming language.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: AWS CDK (AWS Cloud Development Kit) enables you to define your cloud application resources using familiar programming languages, including TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, C#, and Java.
Which of these AWS tools is not designed to help deploy and manage applications on AWS?
- AWS Copilot
- AWS SAM
- AWS Amplify
- AWS Inspector
Answer: AWS Inspector
Explanation: AWS Inspector is an automated security assessment service that helps improve the security and compliance of applications deployed on AWS.
What does AWS Amplify help you with?
- Building, deploying, and managing mobile applications
- Managing databases
- Keeping track of AWS costs
- Monitoring AWS resources
Answer: Building, deploying, and managing mobile applications
Explanation: AWS Amplify makes it easy to build, deploy, and manage mobile and web applications.
True or False: AWS Lambda is a compute service that lets you run code without provisioning or managing servers.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: AWS Lambda lets you run your code without provisioning or managing servers. Just write the code and upload it to Lambda
AWS CDK supports which programming languages? (Multiple Select)
- Java
- Python
- JavaScript
- C#
- All of the above
Answer: All of the above
Explanation: AWS CDK supports a variety of programming languages including Java, Python, JavaScript, and C#.
AWS CloudFormation is essentially a…
- Code repository
- Infrastructure-as-code service
- Static website hosting service
- Database service
Answer: Infrastructure-as-code service
Explanation: AWS CloudFormation provides a common language for you to describe and provision all the infrastructure resources in your cloud environment.
AWS Copilot is a command line interface (CLI) that simplifies the process of…
- Debugging your code
- Running automated security assessments
- Building, releasing and operating production ready containerized applications on AWS
- All of the above
Answer: Building, releasing and operating production ready containerized applications on AWS
Explanation: AWS Copilot is a command line interface (CLI) that simplifies the process of building, releasing, and operating production ready containerized applications on Amazon ECS and AWS Fargate.
Interview Questions
Name a couple of AWS services that can be used for application deployment?
AWS CloudFormation, AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK), AWS SAM, AWS CodeArtifact are amongst a few AWS services that can be used for application deployment.
What is AWS Copilot and how can it assist in application deployment?
AWS Copilot is a command line interface (CLI) that simplifies the building, releasing, and operating of production-ready containerized applications on Amazon ECS from a developer’s local development environment.
Describe AWS CloudFormation and how it contributes to application deployment?
AWS CloudFormation provides a common language for you to model and provision AWS and third party application resources in your cloud environment. It also enables you to use programming languages or plain text files to model and provision, in an automated and secure manner, all the resources needed for your applications.
What is the purpose of AWS CodeArtifact?
AWS CodeArtifact is a fully managed artifact repository service that makes it easy for organizations of any size to securely store, publish, and share software packages used in their software development process.
What is the functionality of AWS Amplify in application Deployment?
AWS Amplify is a set of tools and services that enables mobile and front-end web developers to build secure, scalable full stack applications, powered by AWS. It focuses on the client-side deployment and hosting services, providing scalable and secure backend services.
Can AWS Cloud Development Kit be used with any programming language?
No, AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) allows you to define cloud infrastructure in code and is available for Java, TypeScript, Python, C#/.Net.
How can AWS SAM assist in application deployment?
AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM) is an open-source framework for building serverless applications. It defines a standard application model for serverless applications and provides simple CLI tooling for creating, deploying, and testing applications.
Is Amazon Lambda related to application deployment?
Yes, Amazon Lambda is a compute service where you can upload your code and create lambda functions. AWS lambda takes care of your application administration which includes scaling, patching, security etc.
Can AWS CDK support multiple cloud environments for deployment?
Yes, AWS CDK enables multiple environment deployments supporting production, testing and the development environment separately.
How does AWS CodeArtifact enhance security in application deployment?
AWS CodeArtifact ensures that only approved packages are used in your software deployments by integrating with AWS IAM, allowing granular control over package versions. It also integrates with Amazon CloudTrail to add tracking and auditing of all the actions performed.
What is the main advantage of AWS SAM in serverless application deployment?
AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM) simplifies the process of building and deploying serverless applications. It provides shorthand syntax to express APIs, databases, and event source mappings, allowing developers to focus more on writing application code.
Can you use AWS Amplify for back-end deployment services?
Yes, AWS Amplify not only is used for front-end web applications, but also it supports back-end services like AWS AppSync, Amazon Cognito among others.
Can AWS Copilot be used for deploying applications inside containers?
Yes, AWS Copilot is designed to assist with deploying and operating containerized applications on Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS).
How does AWS CloudFormation ensure application deployment is secure?
AWS CloudFormation integrates with AWS IAM so that you can define who in your organization has permission to create and manage stacks of AWS resources. This provides an extra layer of security for application deployment.
How is AWS Lambda different in the terms of deployment compared to traditional servers?
With AWS Lambda, you don’t have to provision your own servers. You can directly upload your application code and Lambda takes care of everything required to run and scale your code with high availability.
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