Building Modern Python Applications on AWS

In this course, we will be covering how to build a modern, greenfield serverless backend on AWS.

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We expect that you have basic knowledge of AWS already. Some examples of concepts you should be familiar with are: you should know the basics of the AWS Global infrastructure, like what regions and availability zones are. You also should know the at a high-level AWS Identity and Access Management, or IAM, and how it is used to control access to AWS resources. You should also understand what an Amazon EC2 instance is, what Amazon S3 is, what a VPC is, as well as other basic AWS terminology.

About this course

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In modern cloud native application development, it’s often times the goal to build out serverless architectures that are scalable, are highly available, and are fully managed. This mean, less operational overhead for you and your business, and more focusing on the applications and business specific projects that differentiate you in your marketplace. In this course, we will be covering how to build a modern, greenfield serverless backend on AWS.

Building brand new applications on AWS is a different task than lifting and shifting existing applications into AWS. When you have an existing application that you need to move to AWS, you might first look to using Amazon EC2 as your virtual machines, or maybe you might look into using docker containers and container hosting services like Amazon Elastic Container Service or Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service. Those are all great application hosting options, but in most cases, they still require you to have some kind of pulse on the underlying infrastructure hosting your application.

In this class, we will explore how to build an API driven application using Amazon API Gateway for serverless API hosting, AWS Lambda for serverless compute, and Amazon Cognito for serverless authentication. We will follow an API driven development process and first mock up what the API will look like. We will cover all the ins and outs of the service Amazon API Gateway, and as you’ll learn- it does a lot more than just hosting an API.

Then we will add authentication to the API using Amazon Cognito. You’ll learn about how the authorization flow works with cognito, and how to build it into your APIs. From there, we will add a Lambda backend that will be triggered by API Gateway. The lambda functions will be using the AWS SDKs to perform various data processing tasks. You’ll learn about the different configurations that exist for Lambda, and we will show you how to create and manage lambda functions. Some of the features of our API will require multiple lambda functions to execute in a specific order, like a workflow, and we will use AWS Step Functions to create a serverless workflow. Finally, we will talk about how to optimize your APIs at every layer using AWS features.

What you'll learn

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How to build a modern, greenfield serverless backend on AWS
How to build an API driven application using Amazon API Gateway for serverless API hosting
How to build an API driven application using AWS Lambda for serverless compute
How to build an API driven application using Amazon Cognito for serverless authentication

Syllabus

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Week 1

Architecting for the Cloud
What we are building
Introduction to AWS Cloud9
AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
AWS APIs
AWS CLI
Section Reading
AWS SDK Exploration (Python)
AWS Credentials in Cloud9
Introduction to the Serverless Application Model (SAM)
AWS Toolkit for (Cloud9/IntelliJ/PyCharm)
Section Reading
Quiz
Lab 1: Create a static website in Amazon S3

Week 2

Introduction to API Driven Design
API driven development
What is Amazon API Gateway
Amazon API Gateway terminology
Section Readings
Models and Mapping
Creating an API with Mock integration
Using Mappings
Using Models
Section Readings
Publish API
Using Postman to create requests
Section Readings
Lab 2: API
API Authentication
Introduction to Amazon API Gateway authentication
Amazon API Gateway access controls
Amazon API Gateway authentication and authorization mechanisms
Amazon Cognito
Introduction to Amazon Cognito
Using Amazon Cognito to sign in and call Amazon API Gateway
Section Readings
Quiz
Lab 3 Cognito

Week 3

Serverless Computing and AWS Lambda
Introduction to AWS Lambda
AWS Lambda Execution
AWS Lambda permisions
Section Readings
Triggers, Push, Pull model
AWS Lambda execution context and reuse
AWS Lambda Compliance
Asynchronous vs Synchronous Responses
Section Readings
Versions and Aliases
Creating a lambda function using the AWS CLI
Creating and Debugging a AWS Lambda Function using the AWS Toolkit
Section Readings
Lab 4: AWS Lambda
Quiz

Week 4

Orchestration
Creating a serverless workflow
Introduction to AWS Step Functions
Step Functions API exploration
Step Function State types
Section Readings
Step Function Service Integrations
Amazon API Gateway and Step function Integration
Callback patterns
Step Function Activities
Standard vs Express Step functions
Section Readings
Other Orchestration and messaging Services
Event Driven Architectures
SQS, SNS, EventBridge
Section Reading
Lab 5: Process
Quiz

Week 5

Observability
Introduction to Observability
Introduction to Amazon X-Ray
X-Ray, API Gateway, and Lambda
Using the AWS X-Ray SDK with Python
Section Readings
API Gateway and Lambda Logs
Amazon CloudWatch Logs integration with API Gateway, Step Functions, and Lambda
Configuring CloudWatch Logs in API Gateway, Step Functions, and Lambda
Section Readings
Quiz

Week 6

Optimization
Introduction to edge-optimized endpoints
API Gateway Response caching
Lambda at the Edge
Section Readings
Lambda Performance
Lambda Layers
Lambda best practices
Section Readings
API Gateway optimization
API Gateway Proxy for AWS APIs
API Gateway HTTP APIs
Section Readings
Lab 6: Optimizing
Quiz
Course Wrap-up
Final Readings
Final Assessment

Meet your instructors

Amazon Web Services

Morgan Willis

Senior Cloud Technologist

Amazon Web Services

Rick Hurst

Technical Curriculum Architect

Amazon Web Services

Seph Robinson

Technical Trainer

Amazon Web Services

Jonathan Dion

Senior Technical Trainer

Amazon Web Services

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Frequently asked questions

Q. Are there any costs associated with this course?
A. Learners can register for the course in an Audit track or Verified Certificate track. The Audit track is free, but limits the duration of access to 6 weeks from registration. The Verified Certificate track costs $169 and provides full access to course content for the duration. Please visit edx.org for more information.

In addition to course registration costs, this course provides optional hands-on exercises which may have an associated charge in your AWS account. Please familiarize yourself with the AWS Free Tier at aws.amazon.com/free/.

Please note that the AWS Free Tier also has a limit on the amount of resources that you can consume before you begin accruing charges. If you perform these hands-on exercises, there is a chance you may incur charges on your AWS account. Please visit the AWS Free Tier page for more information.

Q. Do I need a credit card to create an AWS Account?
A. Yes, you will need a credit card to activate your AWS account.

Q. How much time will this course require?
A. If following the weekly schedule, learners should plan to spend 2-4 hours per week on this course. However, learners may complete the course at their own pace.

Q. Will I receive a certificate for this course?
A. Learners enrolled in the Verified Certificate path will receive a certificate upon successful completion of the course.

Q. What is the grading policy for this course?
A. All learners may take weekly quizzes, which are not graded and allow unlimited retries.

Learners in the Verified Certificate track are able to take the final course assessment in the course. Passing the final assessment is required to obtain the Verified Certificate.

Learners in the Audit track will not have access to the final assessment, and will not be able to earn a certificate.

Q. How are discussions used in this course?
A. This course has discussion groups aligned to each week of the course. We encourage learners to ask questions or offer suggestions and feedback. AWS Instructors will monitor the discussion groups to answer questions specific to the exercises and topics covered in the course.

Q. Will this course help me prepare for an AWS Certification?
A. Earning an AWS Certification typically requires both knowledge and experience. While this course, if taken in isolation, will provide you with relevant information and skills, it likely will not equip you to earn an AWS Certification. For more information about AWS Certifications, including recommended training and experience requirements, visit aws.amazon.com/certification.

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Prerequisites

About this course

What you'll learn

Syllabus

Meet your instructors

Pursue a Verified Certificate to highlight the knowledge and skills you gain$169 USD

Official and Verified

Easily Shareable

Proven Motivator

Support our Mission

Frequently asked questions

Pursue a Verified Certificate to highlight the knowledge and skills you gain
$169 USD