Building Serverless Microservices with AWS CDK – A Short Introduction

Serverless architecture has revolutionized the world of software deployment, enabling developers to build applications without directly managing servers. This article explores the evolution of serverless microservices and how the AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) is used to create efficient, scalable applications.

The Transition from Monolithic to Microservice Architecture

Monolithic applications were resource-intensive, difficult to manage, and lacked scalability. The introduction of microservice architecture offered a more efficient alternative, consisting of smaller, independent processes that communicate through APIs. This approach allows for greater flexibility in development, as different programming languages can be used for each microservice. While this has led to more complex system architectures, the benefits of improved scalability and resource management are significant.

The Shift to Serverless Software Architecture

The adoption of serverless architecture has allowed developers to focus on building modular components rather than managing monolithic applications. While the term “serverless” may seem paradoxical, as servers are still involved, the key difference lies in how the servers are managed. Companies that utilize serverless applications rely on Function as a Service (FaaS) and Backend as a Service (BaaS) platforms, without owning or managing the servers themselves.

FaaS and BaaS Explained

Backend as a Service (BaaS) involves server-side logic being managed by cloud providers, with client applications operating directly on cloud services. Common BaaS services include cloud storage, database management, user authentication, and hosting. Function as a Service (FaaS), on the other hand, involves executing code in stateless, transient computing environments managed entirely by third-party providers. AWS Lambda is a popular FaaS implementation, with other providers offering similar options.

Serverless Microservices with AWS CDK

Serverless microservices built with AWS CDK take advantage of Amazon Cognito for authentication and authorization, while the API Gateway handles request routing, throttling, and DDOS protection. Lambda functions act as the business logic layer for microservices, communicating with various services such as databases, caches, and notification services. These microservices are deployed as lightweight containers that can be easily accessed, scaled, and managed as needed.

Advantages of Serverless Functions

Serverless functions provide significant benefits over traditional microservices. After writing the function code, developers simply upload it to the FaaS platform, allowing the cloud provider to manage execution, packaging, scaling, and deployment. This eliminates the need for developers to access physical resources directly. Additionally, serverless functions only consume resources when actively executing, leading to cost savings compared to always-active microservices.

Building Serverless Applications with AWS CDK

AWS CDK is an open-source software development framework that enables developers to define infrastructure using popular programming languages such as C#, JavaScript, Python, TypeScript, and Java. This framework provides pre-configured, high-level components called constructs that can be extended and customized to build efficient infrastructures. AWS CDK leverages AWS Cloud Formation Service (CFS) in the backend to supply secure and reusable resources.

HSCompress – A Serverless Image Compression Tool

HyperSense Software developed HSCompress, a serverless image compression tool using AWS Cloud Development Kit microservices. HSCompress allows users to easily compress GIF, JPEG, or PNG images, optimizing storage size or facilitating smoother sharing via social media and email. This cloud-based image compression tool maintains image quality while reducing sizes by up to 90%. Users can drag and drop images or select up to 300 images to be resized with HSCompress, with a maximum image size of 50 MB. The compression process is fast, typically taking around 10 seconds for a 5 MB image.

The rise of serverless microservices has made software development and deployment more efficient and scalable than ever before. With the AWS Cloud Development Kit, developers can harness the power of serverless architecture to build powerful applications without the need to manage physical resources directly. To learn more about how serverless microservices and AWS CDK can benefit your projects, contact HyperSense Software for expert advice and support.