Where to start? How to and which tools to use to start?

Question

I am at my first few days on playing around with aws services.

I followed some tutorials, read some books, watched youtube videos ...

All of them are starting not-so-simple projects, and all are avoiding to explain what happens behind the scenes when you deploy something.

Image, well, it's really my case, I want to deploy a simple lambda for an hello world. 
I mean, my goal is be able to build the infrastructure by code (a part the iam user and iam permission that I want, for now, set manually to fully understand IAM system) and then deploy a simple hello world lambda.

II know, now, there is the need to configure *really a lot* of things
- a part from root user
- iam user for single cli project
- custom policy for this user for this project
- api gateway
- lambda
- and perhaps other things

And also, today I discovered that, in addition to aws cli, there is also aws SAM cil.

Too many infos for a newbie.

So, to start, my first questions are ...  
- is there any tutorial _from scratch_ with explations and not only "do this and it works" ?! 
- what damn are aws cli and sam and when to use one or the other

Adeleke Adebowale Julius · Accepted Answer

It's great to hear that you're diving into AWS and exploring its services! Getting started can indeed feel overwhelming with the abundance of information available, but taking it step by step and understanding the underlying concepts will help you build a solid foundation.

To answer your questions:

Tutorials from Scratch with Explanations: Yes, there are resources available that provide detailed explanations along with hands-on tutorials. Here are a few suggestions:

AWS Documentation: The official AWS documentation provides comprehensive guides and tutorials for each service. You can start with the https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/  for Lambda-specific tutorials.
AWS Free Tier Tutorials: AWS offers free-tier resources and tutorials that guide you through building various projects. Check out the AWS Free Tier Tutorials to get started https://aws.amazon.com/free/?all-free-tier.sort-by=item.additionalFields.SortRank&all-free-tier.sort-order=asc&awsf.Free%20Tier%20Types=*all&awsf.Free%20Tier%20Categories=*all
Online Courses: https://explore.skillbuilder.aws/learn/course/external/view/elearning/11458/aws-cloud-quest-cloud-practitioner
Understanding AWS CLI and AWS SAM:

AWS CLI (Command Line Interface): AWS CLI is a unified tool for managing AWS services from the command line. It allows you to control AWS services directly from your terminal. You can use AWS CLI to create, update, and delete resources, configure security settings, and automate tasks. It's a versatile tool that works with all AWS services.
AWS SAM (Serverless Application Model): AWS SAM is an open-source framework for building serverless applications on AWS. It extends AWS CloudFormation to provide a simplified way of defining serverless applications. With SAM, you can define Lambda functions, API Gateway endpoints, DynamoDB tables, and other resources in a template file (template.yaml) and deploy them using the SAM CLI. SAM abstracts away much of the complexity of CloudFormation for serverless applications.
When to use AWS CLI vs. AWS SAM:

Use AWS CLI for general management tasks, such as creating IAM users, configuring security groups, and managing S3 buckets.
Use AWS SAM for building and deploying serverless applications. SAM simplifies the process of defining and deploying serverless resources and integrates seamlessly with AWS services like Lambda and API Gateway.
As you continue your learning journey, don't hesitate to explore the AWS documentation, participate in online communities, and experiment with different services and tools. Hands-on experience is invaluable for gaining a deeper understanding of AWS and its capabilities.

Hope it clarifies and if does I would appreciate answer to be accepted so that community can benefit for clarity, thanks ;)

Where to start? How to and which tools to use to start?

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