Matthew's Blog
Alright, so now that I'm sure an atomic counter in DynamoDB won't work, then how does one solve this problem?
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Batch Process in AWS - Part 2 - 500's Galore!
Turns out atomic counters will result in hidden 500s and overcounting. That's not good, so what are some common solutions?
Batch Process in AWS - An Exercise in Nuance
Batch processing data in AWS can be achieved many different ways, but the most common I see mentioned is perhaps the simplest, using SQS and Lambda Functions. I took a dive into the implementation and found it wasn't as simple as I originally thought, and certain solutions lead to new questions that needed rethinking everything from the beginning.
Creating an OCR pipeline with AWS Textract
When you're wife needs a way to get her hand written notes into digital format, you create an OCR pipeline and I built one with AWS serverless technologies. This post breaks down how I did it and the mindset around various components.
Importing CloudFormation Resources With CDK L2s
We recently ran across a tough issue with AWS resources, CloudFormation, and the CDK. We needed to import some resources into a stack and it was made harder by the CDK and some L2s. I'll describe the problem and how we solved it.
Announcing my Advanced CDK Course
After 4 years of working with the CDK I felt it was time to put together a course on it.
Developing Step Functions with the AWS CDK
Rapid Step Function development with the Workflow Studio can be integrated easily with the AWS CDK to create an enjoyable experience while keeping your state definitions properly in your infrastructure as code.
How to handle importing CloudFormation resources when you use the CDK
CloudFormation allows you to import resources, but there are some steps you need to take to make it work with your CDK code.
Automating CDK Version Bumping with AWS Serverless and Github
I publish my CDK constructs for specific versions of the AWS CDK. Here's why and how I automated parts of the publishing process.
Moving from AWS Amplify to the AWS CDK
I bootstrapped a side project with AWS Amplify but then hit some walls, so I transitioned to using the CDK.
Converting a CDK construct to using Projen
There's a few steps required to convert existing projects over to Projen, but it's worth it.
Putting code in the right places.
Can the CDK help me put the right code in the right places when building Serverless apps?
Why the AWS Cloud Development Kit is taking off.
The AWS CDK has become very popular, and now it's usage is spreading outside of AWS. Let's discuss why.
How to Create CDK Constructs
Creating reusable CDK Constructs is easier than you may think. Thanks to Github actions you have build and distribute a custom CDK Construct in under an hour.
The Wrong Way to Use the AWS CDK.
I stumbled into a really wrong way to write CDK Constructs and would like to share how and why.
Am I Misusing the AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK)?
I recently built a solution in AWS using the CDK and other resources. I was very happy how it turned out, but wonder if I got lucky.
A Simple Event Source Based API Microservice and the AWS CDK
I wanted to build a simple Event Sourced-based AWS Serverless microservice for some time, and thanks to the AWS CDK I was able to build it the way I wanted.
The Pros and Cons of DynamoDB
DymamoDB is a powerful yet simple database system from AWS. Like any database, there are certain tradeoffs you may need to make.
Creating Idempotent Lambda Handlers with DynamoDB
Creating idempotent lambda handlers is not always trivial. Using DynamoDB as a short-circuit during message duplication is easier then you may think. This post covers a simple DynamoDB table setup you can use to ensure your lambda handlers are idempotent.
A Typescript Runtime for Lambda and Why You May Not Want To Use It
What happens if you create a custom AWS Lambda runtime for a popular language that depends on compiling at runtime?
Creating a CICD for your Ionic 4 app in AWS in 5 minutes
Ionic 4 Websites (or any static website) can now be deployed very easily.
Turning a CRUD Model into an Event Sourced Model
Isn't switching to an Event Sourced model difficult? Probably not if you're using a really common repository pattern.
CICD in AWS for Barracuda
For a recent project we setup a simple but strong CICD pipeline using CodeBuild and CodePipeline.
AWS – Verifying Outgoing SES Email Addresses Without an Email Server
Sometimes you need to respond to a verification email but don't want to setup a full blown email server for your domain. With this little trick you can leverage SNS to forward it along to another email address.