Off-by-none: Issue #257

December 5, 2023

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re:Invent. re:Cover. re:Cap. ✅

In our previous issue, we were counting down to AWS re:Invent, we looked at some pre:Invent announcements, and we played around with PartyRock. This week, we’re recapping re:Invent, looking at some of the interesting releases, and sharing my favorite re:Invent sessions. Plus, we have some amazing serverless content from our awesome community!

Serverless News & Announcements 📣

There were a lot of AWS announcements over the last two weeks, but before we get to that, I’d like to share some of my takeaways from the conference.

  • GenAI was overhyped, and AWS is still way behind
    I really do like the possibilities that GenAI and LLMs bring us, but Werner made it quite clear in his keynote that they’re not silver bullets, and “old ai” like machine learning, is not only better, faster, and more cost effective for a number of use cases, but is being used quite effectively in the real world. I think AWS leads on a number of technological fronts, but GenAI ain’t it, and Amazon Q is probably not ready for prime time.
  • AWS has two serverless camps, and one completely doesn’t get it
    I had a number of chats with AWS employees this past week, and the general consensus was that the data teams behind Aurora Serverless, Serverless Neptune, OpenSearch Serverless, and the new ElastiCache Serverless are operating in an entirely different universe than teams like StepFunctions, EventBridge, and Lambda. DynamoDB gets it, but the rest are not built for serverless developers who are looking for multi-tenant versions of those services. I’m not really sure who they’re for. I’ll keep ringing the bell until everyone gets on the same page.
  • Cost control is the next frontier
    Werner dedicated half of his keynote to being a FRUGAL ARCHITECT. They launched the Cost Optimization Hub, a Unified Billing and Cost Management console, and Data Exports for AWS Billing and Cost Management. Cloud costs are a big deal. As more companies move workloads and more developers deploy more (probably using GenAI), costs are going to continue to soar if left unchecked. As a good friend of mine always says, “Every engineering decision is a buying decision.“

There were plenty of other more extensive re:Invent recaps. Here are some of my favorites:

Okay, let’s get to the announcements! If you’re looking for something a bit more comprehensive, check out the top announcements of AWS re:Invent 2023 by the AWS editorial team.

The ones that really stood out for me:

Also, you might have missed this post by Danilo Poccia that shows you how to check your AWS Free Tier usage programmatically with a new API.

And, of course, AWS announces Amazon ElastiCache Serverless. It costs a minimum of $90/month. It might make sense in certain unpredictable production environments, but it does not fit into the serverless isolation model for developers.

And in non-AWS re:Invent news, the AWS Cloud Project Bootcamp is now on freeCodeCamp.org. All 100+ hours of it.

JetBrains recently released The State of Developer Ecosystem 2023 report. I thought there were some interesting takeaways.

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Serverless Reads 🤓

Is Serverless Hard to Adopt?
Sheen Brisals shares his thoughts on this very tough question. Like anything, serverless requires dedicated study to master, and concentrated effort to adopt and implement. I think there is a different question about roles and focus that needs to be addressed.

Amazon Q meets Taylor Swift
Benjamen Pyle put together a Taylor Swift Amazon Q digital assistant so he could “better relate to [his] niece.” I think he’s just a big “Swifty” but doesn’t want to admit it. 😀

The best IaC tool in 2023
There is a lot to like about this post. I certainly appreciate the effort, even though Pulumi was noticeably missing. The comparison charge is well-researched also.

Podcasts, Videos, and more 🎧

Let’s start with my “can’t miss” AWS re:Invent sessions!

AWS re:Invent 2023 – Best practices for serverless developers (SVS401)
Julian Wood and Chris Munns share the stage for an incredibly comprehensive overview of serverless best practices. Must watch.

AWS re:Invent 2023 – Demystifying and mitigating AWS Lambda cold starts (COM305)
I really enjoyed this talk by AJ Stuyvenberg. There are some really amazing insights in here, backed up by thoughtfully executed experiments. Plenty of takeaways for you to optimize your cold starts.

AWS re:Invent 2023 – Serverless data streaming: Amazon Kinesis Data Streams and AWS Lambda (COM308)
Anahit Pogosova is my favorite Kinesis expert and this talk is an absolute masterclass.

AWS re:Invent 2023 – Using AI and serverless to automate video production (BOA304)
Marcia Villalba delivers so much information in under 50 minutes that you may need to watch this video several times. So good.

AWS re:Invent 2023 – Navigating the journey to serverless event-driven architecture (API303)
Another masterclass from David Boyne that teaches you quite a lot about EDA design patterns, available messaging solutions, and so much more.

And here are a few more amazing talks you should watch:

If you want to find re:Invent videos for certain topics, check out this handy tool by Raphael Manke.

In addition to the re:Invent talks, there are some podcasts you don’t want to miss either:

New from AWS 🆕

Here are some more AWS announcements from the last two weeks that caught my eye:

Thoughts from Twitter 🐦

We’re back with dev:Ember, and AWS Hero Nick Triantafillou (@xelfer). This year he created Wings As A Service to add even more colour to his display, and it’s all serverless! Have you got your lights up yet? ~ AWS Cloud ANZ

Nick does an amazing job with his Christmas lights every year, and with a fully serverless backend, what’s not to be merry about this holiday season?

Upcoming Serverless Events 🗓

December 1 – December 17, 2023 – Serverless Holiday Hackathon

Know of any upcoming events related to serverless? Be sure to send them my way!

Serverless Star of the Week ⭐️

This week’s star is Women Who Code/Cloud (@WWCodeCloud). Though not our typical format of an individual who exhibits excellence in the field of serverless, this group is worthy of the title. Women Who Code/Cloud is the cloud track of @womenwhocode, and right now you can check out their very cool “12 Days of Serverless Computing Advent Calendar” on their Twitter or Instagram. Women Who Code is a global non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers. Thank you, Women Who Code/Cloud, for empowering women in the serverless community and beyond!

Final Thoughts 🤔

Whoa. This was super long and I’m exhausted. I think I need to do some more re:Covering before next week’s issue.

Take care,
Jeremy

I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. We’re always looking for ideas and feedback to make it better and more inclusive, so please feel free to reach out to me via X, LinkedIn, or email.

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Issue #256 • November 21, 2023

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Issue #258 • December 12, 2023

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About the Author

Jeremy is the CEO and Founder of Ampt and an AWS Serverless Hero that has a soft spot for helping people solve problems using serverless. He frequently consults with companies and developers transitioning away from the traditional “server-full” approach. You can find him ranting about serverless on Twitter, in several forums and Slack groups, hosting the Serverless Chats podcast, and at conferences around the world.

 

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