๐ Building with AWS Serverless: Photo Drop & Message in a Bottle
(เฒฅโฟเฒฅ) Photo Drop โ Uploading Images with Pre-Signed URLs
Photo Drop is a simple web app that allows users to upload images directly into an AWS S3 bucket.
Rather than handling file uploads through a dedicated backend server, I used a serverless Lambda function to generate pre-signed URLs. These URLs allow users to upload files securely and directly to S3 โ minimizing server load and increasing upload speed.
Key Technologies:
- AWS Lambda (Node.js) โ Generates pre-signed upload URLs
- AWS API Gateway โ Exposes RESTful endpoints for URL generation
- AWS S3 โ Secure file storage
- HTML/CSS/JavaScript โ Frontend upload interface
Main Takeaways:
- Pre-signed URLs allow direct S3 uploads without exposing credentials.
- AWS services make building file upload systems simple and scalable.
- Serverless architecture dramatically cuts down complexity for small apps.
(โ ีเจ ี)โ Message in a Bottle โ Anonymous Messaging with DynamoDB
Message in a Bottle is a lightweight web app where users can send anonymous messages that appear in a public feed.
The frontend communicates with Lambda functions via API Gateway to either:
- POST a new message to a DynamoDB table.
- GET all previously submitted messages for display.
All backend logic is written in Node.js and monitored with CloudWatch Logs for easy debugging.
Key Technologies:
- AWS Lambda (Node.js) โ Handles message sending and retrieval
- AWS API Gateway โ Provides secure API endpoints
- AWS DynamoDB โ Serverless NoSQL database to store messages
- HTML/CSS/JavaScript โ Frontend for submitting and viewing messages
Main Takeaways:
- DynamoDB is a great fit for simple, highly scalable storage needs.
- Serverless functions allow rapid prototyping of full-stack features.
- Cloud-native apps are easier to build than ever with AWS.
๐ Final Thoughts
Both of these projects gave me hands-on experience with building fully serverless applications โ no EC2 instances, no traditional backend hosting.
By leveraging AWS services like Lambda, API Gateway, S3, and DynamoDB, it's possible to create fast, secure, and scalable apps without heavy infrastructure.
I'm excited to continue exploring serverless patterns in future projects โ these small experiments have already opened up a world of possibilities!