A new AWS Service? Nothing new there! People who are familiar with AWS know there are overwhelming services available and also an aggressive new service launch schedule. Keeping a track of all of them seems like an impossible job and it is actually impossible. So don't fret yourself if you feel you can't keep up. Even the best of AWS experts feel the same.
So what is AWS Amplify?
I won't bore you trying to come up with my own explanation. So, here is what Amazon says about AWS Amplify:
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.
What is the best way to understand AWS Amplify?
This was the first question that popped up in my mind when I heard there is a way to develop a serverless full-stack and host it easily. (Let's keep your next question "What is serverless?" to the next blog! For now, you can keep reading :P) What better way to understand something than jumping in and getting your hands dirty. I looked for some blogs and youtube videos but got back to official documentation and that was the best. I was able to get my very basic web app hosted with a front-end, APIs, backend (including DB) in less than 20 mins! Impressed? I was too!
Getting Started Tutorial
I think just sticking to the tutorial and completing it should give you an overall idea of all the components that are involved in building a serverless full-stack web application. This is the tutorial. Here is a list of components and AWS services you get to touch in this tutorial, all within less than 20mins:
- Deploying static resources for web application - AWS Amplify Console
- Build a Serverless Function - AWS Lambda
- Link Serverless Function to Web Application - AWS API Gateway
- Create a table in database - AWS Dynamo DB
- Setup Authentication - AWS Identity & Access Management
Take a break! Breath! Now, pat yourself for what you have accomplished.
In the next article, I will show you how to deploy a sample full-stack app from a Github repository.
There are some interesting topics like Github Actions coming ahead. Stay tuned!