Published in theburningmonk.com·1 day agoImplementing Magic Links with Amazon Cognito: A Step-by-Step GuideLast week, we looked at implementing passwordless authentication using one-time passwords (OTPs) using Cognito. Another popular passwordless authentication method is magic links where: The user initiates the sign-in process by entering their email in your application. They receive an email with a time-limited URL. The user clicks on the URL…AWS14 min readAWS14 min read
Published in Better Programming·Mar 13Passwordless Authentication Made Easy With CognitoPasswordless authentication is the future of online security. Let me show you how to implement it using Amazon Cognito — Password-based authentication has long been the norm for securing user accounts. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that password-based authentication has several drawbacks. Such as the risk of password theft, the need for users to remember complex passwords, and the time and effort required to reset forgotten passwords.AWS11 min readAWS11 min read
Published in theburningmonk.com·Feb 28The biggest problem with EventBridge Scheduler and how to fix itThe launch of EventBridge Scheduler was one of the highlights for me for re:Invent 2022. Finally, we have a scalable service that lets us schedule ad-hoc, one-off tasks in a serverless way! For longtime followers of my work, you might have read “Serverless Architectures on AWS, 2nd Edition”. In the…AWS5 min readAWS5 min read
Published in theburningmonk.com·Feb 203 ways to manage concurrency in serverless applicationsMany software engineering concepts show up in different contexts. Modularity, the single-responsibility principle and separation of concerns are just a few examples that come to mind. They are equally applicable to how we write code, architect our systems and organize our teams. Similarly, there are many parallels between multithreaded programming…AWS6 min readAWS6 min read
Published in theburningmonk.com·Feb 13How to handle serverful resources when using ephemeral environmentsI’m a big fan of using ephemeral (or temporary) environments when I’m building serverless architectures. I have written about this practice before and I believe it’s one of the most important practices that have co-evolved with the rise of serverless technologies. It takes advantage of the pay-per-use pricing model offered…AWS4 min readAWS4 min read
Published in theburningmonk.com·Jan 12Yes, S3 now encrypts objects by default, but your job is not done yetEncryption at rest has long been a cornerstone in data security and it’s something that everyone should take seriously. If an attacker is able to get a hold of your data, encryption at rest becomes your last line of defence. For instance, in the recent LastPass security breach, the attacker…AWS3 min readAWS3 min read
Published in Better Programming·Jan 9This Is Why You Should Keep Stateful and Stateless Resources TogetherContrary to popular opinion, you shouldn’t separate stateful resources into their own stack. Here’s why. — Loose coupling and high cohesion are two of the essential software engineering principles. Unrelated things should stay apart, while related elements should be kept together. These principles apply at all application levels — from the system-level architecture down to individual modules or functions.AWS4 min readAWS4 min read
Dec 23, 2022Year in review, 2022As the curtain draws on 2022, here’s my year in numbers: 1 book 2 on-demand video courses 1023 students enrolled in my video courses 4 public workshops 118 workshop students 21 blog posts 4 YouTube videos 14 podcast episodes 16 public speaking engagements Serverless Architectures on AWS In February 2022, after nearly two years…AWS3 min readAWS3 min read
Published in theburningmonk.com·Dec 3, 2022A practical guide to testing AWS Step FunctionsTesting Step Functions can be a daunting task. However, with a little preparation and effort, the testing process can be simplified and streamlined. In this article, we will provide a practical strategy on how to test Step Functions. So let’s start by setting the stage and introducing the players. What makes Step Functions hard to test? Step…AWS8 min readAWS8 min read
Published in theburningmonk.com·Nov 29, 2022Lambda cold starts is about to get a lot faster!Over the past few years, AWS has made incremental improvements to Lambda’s cold start performance. Nowadays, cold starts are much less an issue for most functions, unless you’re using Java or .Net Core. Java functions still often see cold starts that last over a few seconds. Which makes them ill-suited…AWS4 min readAWS4 min read
