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AWS AppSync

What is it?​

A fully managed service that facilitates the development of secure, serverless, and high-performance GraphQL and Pub/Sub APIs.

What is it used for?​

Connecting applications to real-time data and events, allowing developers to access exactly the data they need through a flexible API that accesses, manipulates, and combines data from multiple sources.

Use cases​

  • Building mobile and web applications with real-time features (e.g., chats, news feeds)
  • Development of collaborative applications (e.g., real-time document editing)
  • Aggregation of data from multiple sources (DynamoDB, Lambda, HTTP APIs, etc.) into a single GraphQL API
  • Offline data synchronization for mobile applications

Key points​

  • Fully managed: AWS handles the infrastructure and scalability
  • GraphQL: Supports the GraphQL standard for flexible and efficient queries
  • Real-time: Supports real-time subscriptions via WebSocket
  • Security: Integration with AWS IAM, Cognito, and other security services
  • Integration: Easily connects with other AWS services such as DynamoDB, Lambda, Elasticsearch, etc.

Comparison​

  • AWS AppSync vs. API Gateway + Lambda: AppSync specializes in GraphQL and offers native real-time functions, while the combination of API Gateway and Lambda is more flexible for traditional RESTful APIs.
  • AWS AppSync vs. Apollo Server: AppSync is a managed service that offers native integration with AWS services and real-time functions, while Apollo Server is an open-source solution that requires more configuration and management.