The Ultimate AWS Developer Tools Guide for Modern Cloud Deployment

Quick Summary

Table of Contents

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced world, where innovation is essential and efficiency is the key, the AWS developer Tools list offers a robust suite of resources to help businesses and developers build, deploy, and manage scalable and resilient applications.

According to Statista, in the first quarter of 2024, Amazon Web Services (AWS) was the leading provider of cloud infrastructure services, commanding 31% of the total market share. It underscores AWS’s important role in the cloud ecosystem, providing trusted and comprehensive solutions that cater to the needs of modern enterprises and solidifying its position as the preferred choice for developers.

Thus, whether you are focused on application development, infrastructure management, or DevOps practices, AWS has the tools and services to support you on your journey in the digital landscape. So, let’s review these AWS developer tools, showcasing how they simplify your work and speed up new ideas.

Understanding AWS Developer Tools

AWS Developer Tools offers various services to help developers and IT professionals quickly and securely deliver software. These tools allow you to store and manage your application’s source code and automate your software’s building, testing, and deployment to AWS or on-premise environments.

How can AWS Support Your Requirements For Developer Tools?

From building simple web apps to sophisticated microservices, AWS developer tools allow you to:

• Seamlessly integrate and deploy software using DevOps techniques.
• Control AWS services directly from your code editor or the command line.
• Develop and debug code for AWS applications within your favorite IDE or browser.
• Automate your software development tasks, reducing the need for error-prone manual work.
• Keep an eye on software performance with a personalized monitoring dashboard.

Read More About AWS Stats and Facts.

Top 12 AWS Development Tools to Accelerate Your Projects

Developer tools in AWS provide a wide array of optimization capabilities and streamline the process of working on cloud-based projects. The following is an expert-curated list of AWS developer tools designed to substantially enhance your cloud-based development projects.

1. Amazon Corretto

Amazon Corretto is a no-charge, adaptable, and ready-for-production version of the Open Java Development Kit (Open JDK). Not only does this comprehensive package come at no financial cost, but it also offers extensive compatibility across multiple platforms, which makes it a go-to choice for various environments. Corretto’s commitment to long-term support ensures continuous performance enhancements and security measures. What sets Amazon Corretto apart is its endorsement by Amazon itself for its internal operations, running thousands of production services within the company. Also, its certification with Java SE adds another layer of reliability and assurance, making it one of the ecosystem’s most popular AWS Development tools.

Features of Amazon Corretto

• Provides multiplatform support.
• Supports the GraalVM compiler, enhancing performance.
• Offers native image support for quicker application startup.
• Docker image availability for easy containerized deployments.
• Ensures long-lasting support while enhancing performance and addressing security issues.
• Supports popular operating systems, including Amazon Linux2, Windows, and macOS.
• Certified for compatibility with Java SE standard.

Read More: AWS Shared Responsibility Model

2. AWS X-Ray

Among the top AWS developer tools, AWS X-Ray stands out as a powerful tool that helps developers analyze and debug distributed applications, whether they are in production or the development phase. X-Ray offers a comprehensive insight into the path of requests within your application. This tool is valuable for applications structured around a microservices architecture. It shows you a map encompassing all the components involved, where you can analyze complex microservices applications and simple three-tier ones.

Features of AWS X-Ray

• Deep insights into application and service performance metrics like response times, latency, and resource usage.
• Quickly identifies performance problems and errors with end-to-end tracing, enhancing system reliability and user experience.
• Simply integrates with AWS services like EC2, ECS, Lambda, and Elastic Beanstalk.
• Offers a comprehensive perspective of the requested journey within your application, enabling thorough analysis.
• Visualizes component interactions, ideal for complex microservices.
• Compatible with both development and production apps of various types.
• Traces requests seamlessly across AWS services, offering end-to-end visibility.
• Easy access to the tool through various options, including AWS Management Console, CLI, and API.
• Tailor analysis for optimization and troubleshooting applications effectively.

3. AWS Cloud9

Searched for a single tool that can seamlessly handle all aspects of coding, including project creation, testing, debugging, and collaborative work directly through your browser? In that case, AWS Cloud9 is the ideal solution for you. As a browser-based integrated development environment (IDE) hosted in the cloud, it empowers you to seamlessly write, execute, and troubleshoot your code, placing all essential tools at your fingertips. It comes with a code editor, debugger, and terminal and supports all the popular programming languages such as JavaScript, Python, and PHP. You can say goodbye to all the complex local configurations, working from anywhere with internet access, making it a widely favored AWS developer tool.

Features of AWS Cloud9

• Cloud-based IDE eliminates the need for local installations.
• Use integrated tools for writing, debugging, and command-line operations within the IDE.
• Cover 40+ programming languages, such as JavaScript, Python, PHP, Ruby, Go, C++, and more.
• Debugs PHP, Python, JS/Node.js, and C/C++ apps with breakpoints and variable inspection.
• Runs on managed EC2 instances or any Linux server with SSH(Secure Shell) connectivity.
• You can set up CI/CD pipelines using AWS CodeStar integration.
• The terminal provides complete sudo privileges and a pre-authorized AWS CLI for executing commands.
• Customize UI appearance with color schemes and stylesheet editing.
• It allows you to use VIM, Emacs, and Sublime key bindings or define your custom key bindings, allowing you to use familiar commands and shortcuts.
• Quickly edit images directly in the browser with a built-in image editor.
• Simplifies serverless app creation with prepackage tools and SAM support.
• Enables real-time collaboration, allowing pair programming and live tracking of inputs.

4. AWS CodeCommit

AWS Code Commit is an essential component of the AWS developement tools suite. It offers a comprehensive and fully managed source control service designed to streamline the management of private Git repositories for businesses. Additionally, it simplifies securely hosting and expanding repositories, eliminating the challenges of setting up and managing the infrastructure needed for source control. Thus, when you use AWS CodeCommit and other AWS development tools, you have a robust set of resources to make your software development projects more accessible and better.

Features of AWS CodeCommit

• Enable code commits, branching, merging, and pull requests for team collaboration.
• Secures data transfer and repositories at rest with AWS Key Management Service.
• Ultimately, it manages source control, eliminating the need for a source control system setup and maintenance.
• Manages data access with AWS Identity and Access Management, monitored by AWS CloudTrail and CloudWatch.

Store repositories are redundant in Amazon S3 and DynamoDB for data reliability.

Offers event alerts via Amazon SNS, trigger actions, and invokes Lambda functions in response to repository events.

It integrates easily with Git tools and workflows to familiarize developers.

• Supports collaboration via branch management, pull requests, and code reviews.
• Begins with 1,000 repositories, extendable to 25,000, supporting various file versions.
• Integrates with other AWS services for streamlined DevOps workflows and cloud-native app integration.

5. AWS CodeDeploy

AWS CodeDeploy, classified as one of the AWS deployment tools, is designed to automate code deployments to various instances, including EC2 instances and on-premise servers. Also, it streamlines the process of releasing new features and minimizes downtime when the application deploys while simplifying the complexities of updating applications. Its focused approach to deployment management sets it apart from other developer tools, making it an effective solution for code deployment automation.

Features of CodeDeploy

• Automates deploying applications to various services, including EC2, Fargate, Lambda, and on-premise instances.
• Guarantees uniform deployments across multiple instances by eliminating the need for manual intervention.
• Minimizes downtown during application updates.
• Scales deployments quickly, from single instances to thousands, adapting to your infrastructure needs.
• Deploys to various targets, including EC2 instances and on-premise servers, offering deployment flexibility.
• Provides a unified interface for managing deployments via AWS Console, CLI SDKs, and APIs.
• Easily integrates with popular DevOps tools and practices, streamlining the deployment pipeline.
• Allows easy rollback to the previous version, ensuring stability and resilience.
• Offers alerts and monitors deployment events through Amazon SNS integration.

6. AWS CodePipeline

AWS CodePipeline serves as a fully managed continuous delivery solution that streamlines and automates the steps in releasing and updating applications and infrastructure. It orchestrates your release process’s build, testing, and deployment phase in response to any code changes, adhering to your established release model. This empowers you to swiftly and consistently deliver new features and enhancements. It also offers the flexibility to connect seamlessly with external services like GitHub and allows for the incorporation of custom plugins. Moreover, it operates a pay-as-you-go model without the burden of upfront fees or long-term commitments. This aligns perfectly with the cost-effective and adaptable nature of AWS developer tools.

Integrating AWS Developer Tools with the AWS Well-Architected Tool enhances your development workflow by ensuring that your applications are built with the best reliability, security, and performance practices, as outlined in the Well-Architected Framework.

Features of AWS CodePipline

• Automates build, test, and deploy phases for consistent updates with code changes.
• Defines and automates your release process workflow using pipelines, stages, and actions.
• Seamlessly integrates with services like GitHub and supports custom plugins for adaptability.
• Triggers custom functions at any stage using AWS Lambda for flexibility and automation.
• Extends functionality by integrating custom systems or using Jenkins plugins.
• Manages user access and control through AWS IAM, including IAM users, roles, and SAML-integrated directories.
• Offers Amazon SNS notifications for pipeline events, including status and resource links.
• Define pipeline structure through declarative JSON documents for easy updates and new pipeline creation.
• Uses pre-built plugins for popular developer tools for easy integration.
• Operates on a pay-as-you-go model, so you only pay for the resources and services you use.

And while you are at it, read more about how you can adapt AWS Security Best Practices for better security.

7. AWS CodeBuild

AWS CodeBuild is a service that helps you turn your written code into working software. It compiles the code, tests it, and packages it for deployment. The best thing is that you don’t need to be concerned about configuring or overseeing your servers for this. CodeBuild can handle multiple tasks simultaneously, so you won’t have to wait in line for your work to finish. You can start using it easily with pre-made setups or create your custom build environments using the tools you prefer.

Features of AWS CodeBuild

• Offers ready-to-use environments equipped with essential tools.
• Creates your build environments by packaging tools into Docker images.
• Defines specific build commands and actions using a YAML-based specification.
• Well-suited for enhancing the efficiency of tasks related to continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) procedures.
• Builds artifacts encrypted and access-controlled using AWS Key Management Service (KMS).
• Tracks build details, such as start time, end time, status, and commit ID, via AWS CodeBuild and Amazon CloudWatch.
• It supports concurrent builds and prevents build delays and queues.
• Offers prepackaged environments for quick setup.
• Allows customizations with your preferred tools and configurations.
• Versatile support for various programming languages and frameworks.
• Uses pay-as-you-go pricing without upfront costs.

8. AWS CloudShell

AWS CloudShell, an integral part of the AWS developer tools ecosystem, offers a secure and convenient browser-based shell for efficient AWS resource management. It is equipped with pre-installed tools, pre-authenticated access, and support for AWS CLI and SDKs, all at no additional costs.

Features of AWS CloudShell

• Access AWS CloudShell directly from your browser at no extra cost.
• Access and manage AWS commands and scripts directly from your web browser.
• Pre-authenticate your console credentials, eliminating the need for additional logins.
• Pre-installed development tools, reducing the need for local installations and configurations.
• Run scripts with the AWS Service APIs using AWS Software Development Kit (SDKs) for various programming languages.
• Offers 1GB of persistent storage for your scripts and configuration files.

9. AWS Application Composer

AWS Application Composer is a visual AWS developement tool designed to streamline the creation and configuration of serverless applications using various AWS services. Users can intuitively drag and drop serverless resources by leveraging a browser-based canvas to construct their application architecture. This platform facilitates rapid connection between resources, simplifying the building of complex serverless applications. Notably, AWS Application Composer can group resources into larger architectural components, enhancing the ease of editing and configuration. It also provides the functionality to generate deployment-ready configuration files, including default settings tailored to the specific services utilized within the application architecture.

Features of AWS Application Composer

• Offers a drag-and-drop interface to design your application architecture easily using over 1,000 AWS resources.
• Automatically generate CloudFormation and Serverless Application Model (SAM) templates based on your design.
• Keep visual diagrams and IaC artifacts in real-time sync.
• Offers visual IaC authoring in Visual Studio Code.
• AI-powered code suggestions for CloudFormation templates.

10. AWS CodeArtifact

AWS CodeArtifact is a comprehensive artifact repository service designed to simplify the storage, publication, and distribution of software packages within organizations of any scale. As part of the AWS Developer Tools suite, it streamlines the storage, publication, and distribution of packages, ensuring smooth collaboration and accessibility for developers at every stage of the development process.

Features of AWS CodeArtifact

• Access software packages from npm Registry, Maven Central, PyPI, and NuGet.org.
• To share packages within your organization, use npm, pip, yarn, twine, Maven, NuGet, and SwiftPM.
• Streamline package approval and monitor usage with AWS CloudTrail.
• Operate across multiple Availability Zones, storing data in Amazon S3 and DynamoDB.
• It requires no manual configuration or maintenance; it scales automatically.
• Integrate with IAM, AWS CloudTrail, and KMS for security.
• Secure access within your VPC using AWS PrivateLink.

11. Amazon CodeCatalyst

Amazon CodeCatalyst is a comprehensive service tailored to software development teams embracing continuous integration/deployment (CI/CD) methodologies within their development workflows. Entirely operated by AWS, CodeCatalyst consolidates essential tools, enabling seamless planning, collaborative coding, and efficient application building, testing, and deployment. Additionally, it offers integration capabilities with AWS resources, allowing AWS accounts to connect with CodeCatalyst spaces. By unifying all stages and facets of the application lifecycle within a single platform, CodeCatalyst empowers teams to deliver software rapidly and confidently.

Features of AWS CodeCatylst

• CodeCatalyst consolidates all CI/CD tools.
• AWS handles all management tasks.
• Plan, code, build, test, and deploy in one place.
• Manage the entire application lifecycle effortlessly.
• Streamline quick, confident software delivery processes.

12. AWS Fault Injection Service

AWS Fault Injection Service stands out as one of the top offerings in the AWS Developer Tools suite. It is a managed service designed to conduct fault injection experiments on AWS, facilitating application performance, observability, and resilience enhancement. It supports chaos engineering practices by simulating disruptive events, such as sudden CPU or memory consumption increases, in testing or production environments. The service simplifies the setup and execution of controlled fault injection experiments across various AWS services, offering pre-built templates for generating disruptions. This service is an integral part of AWS development tools, enabling developers to identify and address potential issues in their applications proactively.

Features of AWS Fault Injection Service

• Pre-defined scenarios to simulate real-world events.
• Fine-grained controls for targeting environments.
• Integrated with AWS IAM for security.
• Accessible via console, CLI, and APIs.

With these powerful AWS developer tools at your disposal, you can streamline your development workflow, expedite application releases, and build, test, and deploy confidently. All while enjoying the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of these tools, with a strong emphasis on AWS Cost Optimization.

Conclusion

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the benefits of using AWS tools for developers?

Here are some of the significant benefits:

• Embraces DevOps and CI/CD methodologies
• Scalable resource allocation on demand
• Pay-as-you-go billing with cost management tools
• Streamlines operations through managed services
• Offers a diverse array of services for different requirements

Which web browsers are compatible with AWS Cloud9?

You can access AWS Cloud9 using Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge web browsers, provided you use their recent versions.

Can AWS CodeDeploy be integrated into my current toolchain?

You can use AWS CodeDeploy alongside your current software management, deployment, and source code control tools.

Does X-Ray provide an API?

Yes, X-Ray offers APIs that let you bring in information about requests, check on traces, and set up how the service works. With the X-Ray API, you can create your apps to analyze and show data in addition to the existing features offered by X-Ray.