Week 5: Serverless Deep Dive & Project Ideation

1. Objectives

  • Serverless Mastery: Deep dive into AWS Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB — the core serverless building blocks.
  • Certification Progress: Continue the AWS Fundamentals Specialization on Coursera.
  • Project Ideation: Brainstorm and evaluate project ideas with Team TheBois for the main FCJ internship project.
  • Pre-Tet Wrap-Up: Consolidate learning from Weeks 1–4 before the Tet holiday break.

2. Weekly Tasks Breakdown

DayMain TaskDetailsStatus
MonLambda Deep Dive- Studied AWS Lambda execution model, cold starts, and pricing.
- Explored Lambda function URLs as lightweight API endpoints.
- Practiced creating Lambda functions with Node.js runtime.		Completed
TueAPI Gateway & DynamoDB- Studied API Gateway REST vs HTTP API differences.
- Deep dive into DynamoDB: partition keys, sort keys, GSIs, and query patterns.
- Explored DynamoDB’s PAY_PER_REQUEST billing mode.		Completed
WedHands-on Lab- Built a simple serverless REST API:
 + Lambda function handling CRUD operations.
 + DynamoDB table as data store.
 + Tested via Lambda Function URL.		Completed
ThuProject Brainstorming- Team TheBois meeting to discuss project directions.
- Evaluated ideas: secure code distribution, license management, cloud-based code editor.
- Initial concept for GuardScript — a platform to securely distribute and protect source code with licensing.		Completed
FriPre-Tet Review- Consolidated notes from Weeks 1–5.
- Continued AWS Fundamentals Specialization (Coursera).
- Prepared task backlog for post-Tet work.
- Note: Tet holiday break starts next week (2 weeks off).		Completed

3. Key Results (Deliverables)

Technical:

  • Serverless Knowledge: Gained practical understanding of the Lambda + API Gateway + DynamoDB stack, which would later form the foundation for the GuardScript AWS deployment.
  • Hands-on Practice: Successfully built and tested a serverless CRUD API, validating the feasibility of a Lambda-based backend architecture.

Project (Team TheBois):

  • Concept Defined: Identified the core idea for GuardScript — a secure code distribution platform addressing the problem of unauthorized code redistribution.
  • Initial Feature List: Brainstormed key features: encrypted script delivery, license management, hardware ID locking, workspace isolation, access control.

4. Issues & Solutions

  • Issue: DynamoDB query patterns require careful upfront design of partition keys and GSIs, unlike SQL where ad-hoc queries are straightforward.
  • Solution: Studied the Single-Table Design vs Multi-Table Design patterns. Decided that a multi-table approach with targeted GSIs would be cleaner for the GuardScript use case.

5. Lessons Learned

  • Serverless architecture requires a different mindset than traditional server-based design — statelessness, cold starts, and pay-per-use pricing all influence architecture decisions.
  • DynamoDB schema design must be query-driven, not entity-driven.

6. Next Steps

  • Enjoy Tet holiday break (2 weeks).
  • Return with a finalized project scope for GuardScript.
  • Begin architecture design and development planning.