Unleash the Power of AWS SAM: A Developer’s Guide to Building Serverless Magic with Go🚀 (Part 1/5)

Welcome to our exciting series, where we embark on a journey into the world of AWS Serverless Application Model (AWS SAM) and Go, helping developers like you harness the true potential of serverless computing. From simple Lambda functions to secure and scalable applications, we’ll explore the ins and outs of AWS SAM step by step.

In this series of articles, we’ll break down the complexities of serverless development into digestible chunks, making it easy for you to grasp and implement. Whether you’re a seasoned developer looking to expand your skill set or just starting your serverless journey, these articles have something for everyone.

In the next few weeks, we’ll cover the development process and local emulation of an AWS Lambda Function, implement a local DynamoDB service, create a RestAPI Gateway and configure a Lambda Authorizer on it.

How I know that sometimes the rules of a company cam be very restrictive, I'll explan the process step by step, and giving you tips that how do this in your personal computer easily, and how to adapt the process to use customized docker images with environment variables and, private or organizational particularities included.

If you won't to lose any content, follow me! And if you've any questions, write your comments here and I'll try to answer you as soon as possible!

What will you need to build the samples?

It's important start with a little bit of concept about the languages and platforms that we'll use.

• AWS Cloud
• AWS CLI
• AWS SAM CLI
• AWS Lambda Functions
• Docker
• Visual Studio Code
• Go
• OPA Authorizer
• CIAM

Maybe you did read about it before, but like I said, we need to start talking about some concepts, because I'll assume that you're not familiarized with one or more items listed before.

AWS Cloud

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud, often referred to simply as AWS Cloud, is a flexible and on-demand collection of cloud computing services and resources that are hosted and managed by Amazon Web Services. These services include computing power, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning, and more. Users can access and utilize these services over the internet, paying onlyfor what they consume without the need to invest in physical hardware. AWS Cloud empowers businesses and developers to scale their applications, enhance security, and innovate rapidly, making it a vital tool for modern IT operations and application development.

AWS CLI

AWS CLI is a command-line tool provided by Amazon Web Services that allows users to interact with and manage various AWS services and resources from their local terminal or command prompt. It offers a unified interface to access a wide range of AWS functionalities, including creating and configuring cloud resources, managing security settings, and automating tasks. Users can execute commands to perform actions like launching EC2 instances, managing S3 buckets, or configuring IAM roles, making it a versatile tool for administrators, developers, and automation scripts.

AWS SAM CLI

AWS SAM CLI is a specialized command-line tool designed for serverless application development on AWS. It extends the capabilities of the AWS CLI to simplify the process of building, testing, and deploying serverless applications that use AWS Lambda, Amazon API Gateway, and other serverless services. The SAM CLI allows developers to define serverless applications using the AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM) template, test functions locally, package and deploy applications to AWS, and manage the entire serverless application lifecycle from their local development environment. It streamlines serverless development by providing a consistent and efficient workflow for serverless application deployment and management.

AWS Lambda Functions

Here, we need to take a time to talk about AWS Lambda, an amazing and usefull service of AWS. AWS Lambda is a cloud computing service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It falls under the category of ‘serverless’ or ‘computer-as-a-service’, with means you don’t need to worry about server provisioning or physical infrastructure. Instead, you can run code in small units called ‘functions’ in response to events.

Let’s take a look at some key points about AWS Lambda:

1. On-Demand Execution: Lambda functions are executed only when triggered by events. This means you pay only for the actual runtime used, making it very cost-effective.
2. Language Support: AWS Lambda supports multiple programming languages, including Golang, Python, Node.js, Java, C#, Ruby, and many others
3. Integration with AWS Services: You can use Lambda to respond to events from others AWS services such as file uploads in Amazon S3, requests to an API Gateway, messages in Amazon SNS (Simple Notification Service), changes in DynamoDB, and more.
4. Limited Runtime: Each Lambda function has a runtime limit (typically up to 15 minutes). This is important to ensure that functions are ephemeral and don’t impact overall system performance.
5. Isolated Environment: Each function execution occurs in an isolated environment, meaning functions are independent of each other and don’t share resources.
6. Monitoring and Logging: AWS Lambda provides monitoring and loggin tools to help debug and track the performance of your functions.

Overall, AWS Lambda is a powerful tool for devvelopers looking to build scalable and cost-effective applications without the need to manage underlying infrastructure. It is widely used for automation, real-time event processing, creating serverless APIs, and much more.

Docker

Docker is an open-source platform and set of tools that enables developers to create, deploy, and run applications within isolated and lightweight containers. Containers are self-contained environments that package an application along with its dependencies, libraries, and configuration files. Docker simplifies the process of building, distributing, and running applications by abstracting away differences between computing environments, such as the host operating system and hardware.

Key characteristics of Docker include:

1. Containerization: Docker containers encapsulate applications and their dependencies, ensuring consistency across different environments, from development to production.
2. Portability: Docker containers can run consistently on any system that supports Docker, whether it’s a developer’s laptop, a test server, or a cloud-based production environment.
3. Efficiency: Containers share the host operating system’s kernel, which makes them lightweight and more resource-efficient compared to traditional virtual machines.
4. Isolation: Containers are isolated from each other, providing security and preventing conflicts between applications.
5. Versioning: Docker images, which are used to create containers, can be versioned, enabling easy rollbacks and updates.
6. Orchestration: Docker can be used with orchestration tools like Kubernetes to manage the deployment and scaling of containers in complex, multi-container applications.

Docker has revolutionized the way applications are developed and deployed by simplifying the packaging and distribution of software, making it easier for developers to build and ship applications consistently across different environments.

Visual Studio Code (VSCode)

Visual Studio Code, often abbreviated as VSCode, is a free, open-source code editor developed by Microsoft. It is highly customizable and widely used by developers for writing, editing, and debugging code across various programming languages. VSCode offers a rich ecosystem of extensions and plugins, enabling users to tailor the editor to their specific needs, making it a popular choice for software development across different platforms.

Go (Golang)

Often referred to as Golang, is an open-source programming language developed by Google. It is designed for simplicity, efficiency, and concurrency, making it well-suited for building scalable and high-performance software. Go’s key features include a strong focus on readability, a rich standard library, automatic memory management, and a statically-typed system.

Go is particularly known for its exceptional support for concurrent programming through goroutines and channels, which allows developers to easily create efficient and parallelized code. It has gained popularity in areas such as web development, cloud-native application development, and systems programming due to its speed, ease of use, and robust tooling.

Overall, Go is a versatile language that is valued for its combination of simplicity, efficiency, and modern language features, making it a favorite among developers for a wide range of applications.

OPA Authorizer

An OPA Authorizer is a component or system that leverages Open Policy Agent to make authorization decisions. It uses policies written in OPA’s policy language to determine whether a given request or action should be allowed or denied. These policies can cover a wide range of authorization scenarios, such as who can access specific resources, what actions are permitted, and under what conditions access is granted.

OPA Authorizers are commonly used in microservices architectures, Kubernetes clusters, and various cloud-native environments to implement fine-grained access control and enforce security policies. They provide a flexible and centralized way to manage authorization logic, which can be crucial for maintaining the security and compliance of modern software systems.

In summary, an OPA Authorizer is a component that employs Open Policy Agent to enforce access control policies, helping organizations ensure that only authorized users or services can perform specific actions within their applications or systems.

Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)

Customer Identity and Access Management, often abbreviated as CIAM, is a specialized subset of Identity and Access Management (IAM) that focuses on managing and securing the identities of customers or end-users in digital applications and services. CIAM solutions are designed to address the unique identity and authentication needs of businesses that interact with a large number of external users, such as customers, partners, and vendors.

Key features of CIAM systems typically include:

1. User Registration and Onboarding: CIAM solutions provide user-friendly registration processes and self-service account management features to facilitate the onboarding of customers.
2. Authentication: CIAM platforms support a variety of authentication methods, including username and password, social login (e.g., using Google or Facebook credentials), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and more.
3. Single Sign-On (SSO): CIAM enables customers to access multiple services with a single set of credentials, improving user experience and security.
4. User Profile Management: Businesses can collect and manage user profile data, allowing for personalized experiences and targeted marketing.
5. Privacy and Consent Management: CIAM solutions often include tools for managing user consent, data privacy, and compliance with regulations like GDPR or LGPD (Brazil).
6. Security and Fraud Prevention: CIAM systems implement security measures to protect user accounts and data, including threat detection, account recovery, and risk-based authentication.
7. Scalability: CIAM platforms are built to handle high volumes of user data and traffic, making them suitable for businesses with large customer bases.

CIAM plays a crucial role in delivering secure, seamless, and personalized experiences for customers in digital environments, such as e-commerce websites, mobile apps, and online services. It helps organizations build trust with their users while ensuring data privacy and compliance with regulations.

Now you’re familiarized with everything we’ll need, make sure that you already have the tools in you computer, because in our next episode we’ll start to build our sample solution of a API Gateway with a lambda authorizer to run locally with SAM.

Here’s the links to download and install the tools we’ll need:

Download Visual Studio Code - Mac, Linux, Windows

Download and install - The Go Programming Language

Docker Desktop

Instalar ou atualize para a versão mais recente da AWS CLI

Installing the AWS SAM CLI

In the next weeks we’ll have more four articles with the object of create an API Gateway with a lambda authorizer and DynamoDB using AWS SAM. We’ll put the hands on the code and build a complete infrastructure, running locally in our computer. This’ll help you understand an fix the content we’re focusing here.

Check out the schedule:

1. Sept. 29th — Unleash the Power of AWS SAM: A Developer’s Guide to Building Serverless Magic with Go
2. Oct. 6th — Supercharge Your Apps with AWS Lambda: Getting Started with SAM
3. Oct. 13th — Seamless Data Management with AWS SAM: Integrating DynamoDB
4. Oct. 20th — API Nirvana: Building Serverless APIs with AWS SAM and API Gateway
5. Oct. 27th — Locking Down Your Serverless World: Implementing Lambda Authorizers

I hope you liked, and I see you in the next week, bye!