2019-ServerlessVsExpress

Comparative between serverless stacks (AWS Lambda) and Express in Node.js to create full fledged CRUD Web applications

Development process

The development process will be divided in the following sections

• REST in (Nodejs + express) VS AWS Lambda

  • Comparative between using REST in a common Nodejs stack and a Serverless.
    1. Comparative
    2. REST (Node.js + express)
    3. REST (AWS Lambda + AWS API Gateway)

• Configuration of Visual Studio Code to use it with Node.js and AWS SAM

  • In this section, we will see how to configure VSCode IDE and prepare it to be used with Node.js and with AWS SAM.
    1. Comparative
    2. Config VSCode for Node.js
    3. Config VSCode for AWS SAM

• Static web (SPA) - How to deploy a regular Single Page Application the common way VS Amazon S3

  • How to deploy a Single Page Application normally and how it is done in an Amazon S3 bucket.
    1. Comparative
    2. React SPA app

• Files

  • Managing files in different environments (nodejs and AWS Lambda).
    1. Comparative
    2. File handling in Node.js
    3. File handling in AWS + S3

• Databases

  • Using (Nodejs + MongoDB) VS (AWS Lambda + DynamoDB).
    1. Comparative
    2. Database with MongoDB + Node.js
    3. Database with DynamoDB + AWS

• Background tasks

  • Use of background tasks (i.e. generate pdfs...) in both environments.
    1. Comparative
    2. Background Tasks with Node.js + Express + RabbitMQ
    3. Background Tasks with AWS + S3 + SQS

• Notifications/Websockets

  • Creating notifications for users making use of Websockets.
    1. Comparative
    2. Notifications with Node.js + Socket.io (server and client)
    3. Notifications with AWS + API Gateway V2 (server)
    4. Notifications with AWS + API Gateway V2 (client)

• Users Management

  • Users management using a typical authentication system in Node.js and how to do it using "AWS Cognito" instead.
    1. Comparative
    2. Users Management with Node.js + Express (Backend)
    3. Users Management React SPA (Frontend for Node.js + Express version)
    4. Users Management with AWS Cognito (Backend)
    5. Users Management React SPA (Frontend for AWS Cognito version)

• Average cost having chosen one of this stacks

  • Aproximation to the cost of using a typical stack VS using a Serverless one. We will see when it's prefferable to use one or another in a short/long term based on AWS prices.
    1. Comparative

• Complete Mini App using all the features above (+ testing)

  • Creation of a complete small app using all the features above in both stacks, also adding tests for both implementations.
    1. Comparative
    2. Complete Miniapp with Node.js + Express
    3. Complete Miniapp with AWS