This Week in Cloud: Unexpected AWS Tour

Not every week is about shipping cool projects, sometimes it’s just about testing. And this week? It was all about testing. I spent the week running through various LocalStack Pro sample apps to make sure everything worked as expected. What I didn’t expect was to get hands-on with a whole bunch of AWS services I’ve barely touched before (and a few I had honestly never even heard of). Here’s what I ended up exploring: SageMaker → Machine learning workflows RDS → Managed relational databases Neptune → Graph databases Step Functions → Orchestration workflows Glue → Data catalog and ETL MQ → Managed message brokers Route 53 → DNS and traffic routing ...plus the usual mix of storage, compute, and API Gateway goodness. What stood out this week was how much you can learn just by doing. I didn’t plan to dive into graph databases or message brokers, but while debugging and tinkering, I picked up quite a bit. Having everything local with LocalStack definitely made that exploration easier and less intimidating. What’s next? First things first: I need to finish my Meme App (priorities are priorities). Once that’s wrapped, I’d like to turn some of this accidental learning into small demos and share tips on how to explore unfamiliar AWS services without the usual stress. If you’ve ever gone down the AWS rabbit hole and come out the other side with new scars and skills, I’d love to hear your story too. Just hit me up on Twitter or LinkedIn. Catch y'all next week!

May 3, 2025 - 04:21

Not every week is about shipping cool projects, sometimes it’s just about testing.
And this week? It was all about testing.

I spent the week running through various LocalStack Pro sample apps to make sure everything worked as expected. What I didn’t expect was to get hands-on with a whole bunch of AWS services I’ve barely touched before (and a few I had honestly never even heard of).

Here’s what I ended up exploring:

SageMaker → Machine learning workflows
RDS → Managed relational databases
Neptune → Graph databases
Step Functions → Orchestration workflows
Glue → Data catalog and ETL
MQ → Managed message brokers
Route 53 → DNS and traffic routing

...plus the usual mix of storage, compute, and API Gateway goodness.

What stood out this week was how much you can learn just by doing. I didn’t plan to dive into graph databases or message brokers, but while debugging and tinkering, I picked up quite a bit.

Having everything local with LocalStack definitely made that exploration easier and less intimidating.

What’s next?

First things first: I need to finish my Meme App (priorities are priorities).

Once that’s wrapped, I’d like to turn some of this accidental learning into small demos and share tips on how to explore unfamiliar AWS services without the usual stress.

If you’ve ever gone down the AWS rabbit hole and come out the other side with new scars and skills, I’d love to hear your story too. Just hit me up on Twitter or LinkedIn. Catch y'all next week!