Big changes to AWS Lambda

We're back with another instalment of AWS This Week, where we sift through all the news and updates from the world of Amazon Web Services so you don't have to! This week, we have a totally new way to define access to Lambda functions with attribute-based access control (ABAC), AWS Lambda Powertools for TypeScript is generally available, there are new releases for AWS AppConfig extensions, and AWS Glue Streaming ETL with Auto Scaling is now generally available. Ready for all the details? Keep on reading.

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We don't want to be overly dramatic, but the way you define permissions for AWS Lambda might have changed. Forever. How? By leveraging attribute-based access control (ABAC) for your Lambda functions.

Now, if you're new to ABAC, this provides the capability to use metadata like tags on an AWS resource to define permissions. This has the potential to save you a ton of time, because you can now do things like give a service team permission to invoke, delete, or update a Lambda function based on a specific tag that you define in this manner.

You can make sure that any new service the team needs to work with includes that tag on creation. This means more IAM policies will remain unchanged, and you won't have to keep filing tickets to have Steve and Sharon from security keep adding new ARNs to the policy. This functionality is available for you to try out today.

Speaking of Lambda, here's an announcement for all the TypeScript developers in the house – the Lambda Powertools for TypeScript library is now generally available. Check it out here.

Many development teams have embraced feature flags as an essential element of modern application development, and AWS announced AppConfig as a feature of AWS Systems Manager all the way back in 2019. This service gives you the ability to define and consume runtime configuration for your applications running on AWS. This week, AWS took it to the next level with AppConfig Extensions.

This capability of AppConfig enables you to create event driven actions when either creating or deploying an application configuration. It pulls in service integration with AWS services like SNS, EventBridge, and SQS. It even gives you the ability to leverage Lambda to create custom AppConfig extensions to automate pretty much anything you can think of.

Another interesting feature of this release is that it also includes support for Jira. I realize that hating on Jira is a favourite pastime for developers, but it's still the most popular tool of its kind, so it’s pretty cool to see AWS launch this capability with this support. You have the ability to create or update a Jira issue based on the action in your AppConfig configuration deployment. This capability is available in all regions, and guess what? It's free, so why not check it out.

If you're leveraging AWS Glue for your streaming data ETL, the auto-scaling capability is now generally available. With this capability, you no longer need to manually manage the resources that you're providing for Glue in your data pipeline. Hey, I’ll gladly take some manual tasks off of my plate and give them to AWS – this sounds like a win/win! And with it being generally available, you can now integrate it into your production streaming
data pipelines.

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