Code Example Updates For "Programming AWS Lambda"
Six years on it was time to update the runtime version, and a few other things, for our book examples.
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AWS Organization Deployment Automation with GitHub Actions
GitHub Actions is a popular automation / CI/CD tool for deploying to AWS. Here are several detailed examples that will help you make the best of it when using an AWS Organization.
Managing and using Deployment Automation in AWS Organizations
Automating deployment of cloud resources via a “CI/CD” tool is now common practice. This article shows you a structured approach to integrating such tools into your AWS Organization.
Why you probably don't want to use AWS' new GitHub Actions Lambda Deployment
AWS now support deploying Lambda directly from GitHub Actions. While this sounds like a good idea it doesn’t solve most of the problem, and it makes CI/CD breakages more likely.
Using Infrastructure-as-Code for AWS Organizations
Infrastructure-as-Code is a standard technique that brings speed, effort, and safety benefits to software and infrastructure deployment. With a few specific nuances it can be effectively used with resources managed within an AWS Organization, and is a valuable addition to your Org Ops strategy.
Using Identity Center for AWS Human User Management
This article introduces you to AWS’ solution to securing your Organization for human access - Identity Center. By the end of this article you’ll understand why you may want to use it, and be able to configure appropriate and secure human user access across your entire AWS Organization with relatively little effort.
Building your multi-Account AWS Organization
Once you’ve planned the structure of your AWS Organization, you need to build it out. This article helps you prepare and implement the Accounts in your standardized Organization.
AWS beyond the sandbox - moving to a multi-Account Organization
It makes sense for most companies using AWS to adopt a multi-Account AWS Organization. This article explains why, and how you can start planning a structured Organization as part of a holistic approach to company-wide “org ops”.
Organizing source code in serverless projects
Cicada Note #6 - How I organize application and infrastructure source code, with special thought for for projects using CDK and Pulumi.
A Quick Symphonia Update - November 2024
Symphonia is now a one-man-band!
Laying out a repository for serverless projects
Cicada Note #5 - There is little standardization in the Javascript world on how to layout a project repository, not even for serverless TypeScript apps. This is how I do it, starting with the project root directory.
Serverless Deployment: Resource Groups
Cicada Note #4 - How to scale deployment when working with multiple serverless functions
Using Cicada
Cicada Note #3 - A demonstration of Cicada’s web interface and notifications
Cicada's High-Level AWS Service Architecture
Cicada Note #2 - Drilling into Cicada’s architecture by one level to look at the primary AWS services used, and the interactions between them.
Cicada's Interface Architecture
Cicada Note #1 - Cicada’s top-level components and the interfaces between then.
Introducing Cicada
Cicada is an application that is both a full example of building a real application using Serverless techniques on AWS, and also a practical monitoring tool for GitHub. This article introduces Cicada, and Cicada Notes.
Symphonia's March 2023 newsletter
Serverless in 2023 - a chasm crossed?
Serverless in 2023
I was recently a guest on the ThoughtWorks Tech Podcast to give my thoughts about the state of Serverless today. We covered a lot, but the main conversation points to me were:
AWS Lambda SnapStart - How
The second of two articles about AWS Lambda SnapStart, this looks at how developers can update their existing Java Lambda applications to use SnapStart, and what performance improvements they might expect to see.
AWS Lambda SnapStart - What, and Why
At reInvent 2022 AWS announced “SnapStart” - a new Lambda capability to drastically improve cold starts when using Lambda with Java, or other JVM languages.
Lambda Powertools - great defaults for batteries that aren't quite (but should be) included
AWS Lambda is my preferred runtime environment for cloud-based code. Lambda has gained many, many, features over the eight years since it was launched. Most of these are focussed on the Lambda runtime - more CPUs, more memory, different CPU architectures, many more language runtimes, custom runtimes, integration with approximately a bajillion other services, etc.
Starting with CDK part 2: Deploying a Lambda Application
Welcome to Part 2 of “Starting with CDK” . In Part 1 I helped you prepare your environments for CDK, as well as deploy and examine your first CDK application.
Starting with CDK part 1: Preparations, and Bare-Bones
The AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) is a tool you can use to deploy applications and infrastructure to AWS. From one of my earlier articles:
Java and AWS Lambda - Best of frenemies?
This is a cross-post from the Cockroach Labs blog. Cockroach Labs have been kind enough to sponsor our book Programming AWS Lambda, which you can download for free from the Cockroach Labs website.
MonoLambdas, Nano Functions, and Goldilocks
Simple, single-responsiblity, AWS Lambda applications have one Lambda function and one event source. You might use API Gateway to provide a simple HTTP-callable interface to a Lambda function.
AWS CDK - The Good, The Bad and the Scary
AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) has become, in its short history, a very popular infrastructure-as-code tool. It’s not too surprising why - it allows engineers to use richer programming languages to define infrastructure, rather than having to use JSON or YAML.
How to prepare for the coming CPU confusion
The server-side software industry is about to switch from x86 to ARM CPUs. How can you get ready for this big change?
Books, Elevators, and Serverless Data Platforms
Symphonia’s September 2020 newsletter, with some thoughts around hybrid architecture strategy
Serverless, Testing, and two Thinking Hats
A strategy for considering serverless and testing, which bucks the trend of other opinions in the industry.
AWS Glue 2.0 - Realizing the Benefit of Managed Services
Serverless isn’t just Lambda Here at Symphonia, we’re proponents of all things Serverless. This means that in addition to technologies like AWS Lambda, we make heavy use of managed backends-as-a-service that address concerns like scaling, resource allocation, and process management, while giving us and our clients granular billing with minimal fixed costs.
Cloud Coffee Break, Episode One
Hi everyone, Mike here! I’ve been missing chatting to folks at conferences and meetups, so here’s a little experiment. Broadcast from my own home, it’s “Cloud Coffee Break”!
Analyzing Cold Start latency of AWS Lambda
Deep dive into cold starts, with some surprises related to regions, volatility, and ‘cool’ starts
Serverless Chats Podcast: Programming AWS Lambda
Chatting with Jeremy Daly. We get into testing; why & how to avoid building “lambdaliths”; cold starts; architecture; and more.
Debugging AWS Lambda functions with Thundra
Debug cloud-deployed Lambda functions from your IDE
Our book with O'Reilly - "Programming AWS Lambda"
All of our knowledge of running AWS Lambda with Java, wrapped up into 250 pages!
CodePipeline Versioner
AWS CodePipeline is AWS’ CD orchestration tool. We’re fans of CodePipeline at Symphonia : we use it with our clients, and on our own projects. To read a quick overview of CodePipeline see this earlier article that I wrote.
Some new Serverless Architecture videos from John and Mike
Hi everyone. It’s been a great, fascinating, and busy 2019 for John and I (Mike) at Symphonia. You’ll probably be able to tell that we haven’t had too much spare time because of the lack of updates around these parts!
Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery on AWS
Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) are techniques that I’ve had a passion about for a long time. Back in the Dim And Distant Past of 2003 I even co-led an open source project that brought some at-the-time interesting innovations to this area.
Did you get your re:Invent holiday wish?
This is the latest edition of our newsletter. To receive the email version please subscribe here.
So another AWS re:Invent has come and gone and .
What are our re:Invent predictions? And updates!
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Hello everyone from the snowy world of Symphonia! Yes, winter’s first storm has come to New York City.
Symphonia at Velocity 2018, and more Serverless Insights
This is the latest edition of our newsletter. To receive the email version please subscribe here.
Hello friendly Serverless Insights subscribers! Summer has arrived in New York City — a time when locals scramble to find rooftops, dodge a million dripping air conditioners, and wonder how bodegas are selling pumpkin beer already.
Revisiting "Serverless Architectures"
I started writing “Serverless Architectures” in May 2016. At that point I’d recently finished up at my previous job, had just been to the first Serverlessconf, hadn’t done much writing in a while, had some time on my hands, and so decided to put a few ideas together.
Examining the AWS Serverless Application Repository
AWS announced a new service — the Serverless Application Repository (SAR) — at re:Invent 2017. The general goal of SAR is to make it easier to distribute, and consume, applications that have been developed using AWS Serverless products, like Lambda.
Symphonia's Serverless Insights — March 2018
This is the latest edition of our newsletter. To receive the email version please subscribe here.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the first Symphonia Serverless Insights of 2018!
Symphonia's Serverless Insights — December 2017
This is the latest edition of our newsletter. To receive the email version please subscribe here.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the last Serverless Insights of 2017!
AWS Lambda Reserved Concurrency
Lambda is a wonderful platform. However, it is still in its early years, and has a number of limitations and rough edges. One of those edges — that of the ability to overwhelm downstream systems with unfettered load — got a lot smoother at re:Invent 2017.
Serverless at re:Invent 2017
The light show at the re:Play party Another re:Invent has come and gone, and us mere AWS-using mortals are now rapidly trying to sort the wheat from the chaff of a heady harvest of announcements.
Symphonia's Serverless Insights — November 2017
This is the latest edition of our newsletter. To receive the email version please subscribe here.
Hello all, and welcome to a special ‘pre:Invent’ edition of our Serverless Insights.
Learning Lambda — Part 9
This is Part 9 of Learning Lambda, a tutorial series about engineering using AWS Lambda. To see the other articles in this series please visit the series home page.
Learning Lambda — Part 8
This is Part 8 of Learning Lambda, a tutorial series about engineering using AWS Lambda. To see the other articles in this series please visit the series home page.