Introduction to AWS Amplify

Last Updated : 16 Oct, 2020

Amazon Web Services are some of the most useful products we have access to. One such service that is becoming increasingly popular as days go by is AWS Amplify. It was released in 2018 and it runs on Amazon’s cloud infrastructure. It is in direct competition with Firebase, but there are features that set them apart.

Why is it needed?

User experience on any application is the most important aspect that needs to be taken care of. AWS Amplify helps unify user experience across platforms such as web and mobile. This makes it easier for a user to choose which one would they be more comfortable with. It is useful in case of front end development as it helps in building and deployment. Many who use it claim that it actually makes full-stack development a lot easier with its scalability.

Main features:

Can be used for authenticating users which are powered by Amazon Cognito.
With help from Amazon AppSync and Amazon S3, it can securely store and sync data seamlessly between applications.
As it is serverless, making changes to any back-end related cases has become simpler. Hence, less time is spent on maintaining and configuring back-end features.
It also allows for offline synchronization.
It promotes faster app development.
It is useful for implementing Machine Learning and AI-related requirements as it is powered by Amazon Machine learning services.
It is useful for continuous deployment.

Various AWS services are used for various functionalities. AWS Amplify offers. The main components are libraries, UI components, and the CLI tool chain. It also provides static web hosting using AWS Amplify Console.

Let’s have a brief look at some of these components:

Libraries:

The libraries are powered by AWS services. The help in the production of applications immensely, especially in the case of the back-end.

Authentication: Various authentication processes such as login, sign up by either Google, Facebook, or Amazon itself is supported. This is done with the help of Amazon Cognito.
API: Making HTTP requests to REST and GraphQL have been made easier. With the ability to consolidate information from its services such as AWS lambda and more and with the use of other services such as Amazon AppSync, being able to build applications with offline synchronization has become possible.
Analytics: Analytics plays an important part in the case of all applications. With the help of services such as Amazon pinpoint, developers can understand their user’s needs. This service also helps in case of push notifications which is another feature.
DataStore: Amazon AppSync helps make data distribution less of a hassle as no additional code is required to execute the process in offline and online cases.
Predictions: Amazon Sagemaker enhances your Machine Learning and AI experiences. Doing text translation or converting text to speech can be done with a lot fewer efforts than you would put in initially.
Storage: Managing and storing user data security is handled by Amazon S3.
Interactions: Powered by Amazon Lex, you can easily build conversational bots with simple code.

UI Components:

AWS Amplify provides drop-in UI components for Authentication, Storage, and Interactions.

Static Web Hosting:

From a custom domain to a free HTTPS certificate, building and deploying a full-stack website is fully covered. It ensures a continuous workflow along with global availability.

Deployment takes only a few steps compared to many other alternatives. During the development stage, the Amplify framework is used to configure the back-end requirements and connect with the required application. For the deployment part, Amplify Console is used to connect to a repository with the required files or directly upload them. After that, the build settings are determined and then it goes to deployment.