Learning paths

AWS learning and deployment paths

Role-based guide

Follow a path based on what you are trying to ship. Each path points you toward the right categories and production checks.

Production web app path

  1. Start with Route 53, CloudFront, WAF, and an ALB or API Gateway.
  2. Choose Lambda, ECS Fargate, App Runner, or EC2 based on runtime control needs.
  3. Add RDS/Aurora or DynamoDB, Secrets Manager, CloudWatch, Backup, and rollback automation.

Serverless builder path

  1. Model events, APIs, and data access patterns first.
  2. Use API Gateway, Lambda, EventBridge, SQS, DynamoDB, Step Functions, and CloudWatch.
  3. Add idempotency, retries, DLQs, throttling, reserved concurrency, and deployment aliases.

DevOps and platform path

  1. Standardize accounts, IAM Identity Center, VPC patterns, tagging, and budgets.
  2. Use CDK/CloudFormation/Terraform with CI/CD, image scanning, and environment promotion.
  3. Add Config, CloudTrail, Systems Manager, Security Hub, GuardDuty, and incident runbooks.

Data and analytics path

  1. Land raw data in S3 with encryption, lifecycle policies, and ownership boundaries.
  2. Catalog with Glue, query with Athena or Redshift, visualize with QuickSight.
  3. Control scan costs, data quality, governance, retention, and access audits.

Security-first path

  1. Begin with MFA, least privilege, secrets, encryption, CloudTrail, and GuardDuty.
  2. Add WAF, Security Hub, Config, vulnerability scanning, backup policies, and evidence collection.
  3. Practice incident response and restore drills before production launch.

Startup MVP path

  1. Use managed services first: Amplify/S3+CloudFront, Lambda/API Gateway, DynamoDB, Cognito.
  2. Keep operations light with CloudWatch alarms, budgets, and simple rollback.
  3. Move to ECS/Aurora/VPC-heavy designs only when requirements justify it.