Does AWS Require Coding?

AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a well-known cloud computing platform among professionals and tech firms. One of the first questions that most customers have when working with AWS is, “Does AWS require coding?”

The answer is no. Many simple operations may be accomplished without coding; therefore, using AWS does not require coding knowledge. You may still be required to master specific programming skills, depending on the job/talents you have (or need).

Why Does Amazon Web Services (AWS) Not Require Coding?

Working with AWS often does not entail the use of code. AWS can be accessed in two ways: manually using the AWS UI or programmatically through the infrastructure as a code tool, which requires putting cloud configuration commands in text files.

It’s usual for newbies to use the UI rather than code to build their AWS architecture. And because the UI technique is one of the most straightforward ways to understand AWS, many tutorials show it. 

The manual vs. code configuration question is crucial, so let’s discuss that. 

Why Shouldn’t Things Be Done Manually?

You can manually create things in AWS, use the UI to establish infrastructure, and do intricate configurations all through the UI. 

While some businesses develop cloud infrastructure manually, it is generally not recommended and is considered a destructive industry practice. Manually creating resources becomes challenging to track and manage after a while.

Many beginners to AWS claim that the UI is confusing and lacks features. This isn’t an error on AWS’ part; instead, they encourage customers to interface with the infrastructure through code tools rather than the UI. Teams may quickly evaluate modifications before they are implemented, monitor and comprehend when previous changes have been made and why, and go back in time to earlier configurations by saving configurations as code.

What Are The Two Types of Coding?

There’s something essential that needs to be talked about. Although we’ve primarily discussed infrastructure as code, another coding is known as application coding. We must differentiate between these forms of coding since it will determine whether you need to learn to code or not.

Code in AWS comes in various kinds and sizes, but it can be divided into two categories: infrastructure coding and application coding. Let’s examine the distinctions between the two.

1. Application Coding

First and foremost, application coding is the kind of coding that most people associate with coding. Coding is what allows us to do things like automate a tedious process or create a website.

Logic is commonly used in application development, such as if/else statements to “branch” code based on a condition or loops to repeat operations multiple times. Many people are intimidated or perplexed by the logic involved in coding.

2. Infrastructure Coding

On the other hand, infrastructure coding is devoted only to the process of writing infrastructure setups, as the name suggests. Infrastructure configurations are nothing more than a set of instructions for constructing infrastructure. Our infrastructure, in this case, is our cloud arrangement. 

• A popular tool for Infrastructure as code is Terraform by HashiCorp. It’s a member of the AWS DevOps Competency and an AWS Partner Network (APN) Advanced Technology Partner. This is an “infrastructure as code” tool comparable to AWS CloudFormation that allows you to design, edit, and version your Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure.
• AWS CloudFormation is a platform that allows developers and businesses to quickly put together a set of linked AWS and third-party resources, then provision and operate them in a logical and predictable manner.

AWS CloudFormation is meant to manage resource lifecycles in a consistent, predictable, and secure manner while also providing for automatic rollbacks, state management, and resource management across accounts and regions. 

By using AWS CDK to code in higher-level languages, importing existing resources, detecting configuration drift, and a new Registry that makes it easier to construct custom types that inherit many of the fundamental CloudFormation advantages have all been added recently. To determine whether you’ll need to code for AWS, consider what you’ll be doing there.

AWS Tasks That Do Not Require Any Coding

1. Creating a Website in WordPress

AWS is commonly used to build websites. You may easily set up a WordPress website on AWS without any coding knowledge. By utilizing an AWS feature known as the marketplace, merchants can sell pre-made, ready-to-launch machine images that are simple to set up and require no coding. Many alternative photos are available for creating off-the-shelf blogging, wikis, and photo storage servers in the marketplace.

2. Storing Files Using AWS

AWS can also be used for file storage, a typical task. All company departments can then use file storage to store movies, text files, images, and other forms of data. These files can then be shared easily over the internet or within a company.

You can use AWS S3 to set up a file storage system without knowing how to code (Simple Storage Service). Cloud Mounter, for example, is one of the many clients and GUIs that can interact with file storage.

AWS Tasks That Require Coding

1. Building Custom Websites

For many AWS customers, creating a website is a frequent goal. Various computer languages, such as Node.JS, Python, and PHP, can create websites. To create a personalised website, you’ll need to know how to code and, at the very least, use HTML.

S3, CloudFront, ECS, and Fargate are just a few AWS services that can help you build a website.

2. Creating Skills for Alexa

You’ll need some coding abilities to develop the technical APIs that enable the Alexa skill. For instance, you want to create a custom home automation system, such as an Alexa skill.

3. AWS Lambda

AWS Lambda is a serverless computing service that takes care of your core compute resources while you run code in response to events. Changes in state or updates, such as a user adding an item to a shopping cart on an e-commerce website, are examples of these events. 

AWS Lambda may be used to add custom logic to existing AWS services or to create your own backend services that take advantage of AWS’ size, performance, and security. HTTP requests via Amazon API Gateway, object alterations in Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) buckets, Amazon DynamoDB table updates, and AWS Step Function state transitions are just a few of the events that trigger code execution in AWS Lambda.

In Conclusion

To assess if AWS uses code, we looked at various parameters today. As I indicated at the opening, the short answer is no. Many tasks on AWS can be accomplished without any coding knowledge. However, it depends on the purpose for which you intend to use AWS. You’ll have to learn infrastructure as code if you want to work as a cloud engineer or in the cloud. You’ll need to master application code if you’re going to create applications.

If you’re interested in studying AWS, saasguru is a great place to start. Check out the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner and get a head start in learning AWS.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Does cloud computing need coding?

You don’t require technical expertise or technical background to learn cloud computing. But coding skills are always a plus point in cloud computing. Whether coding is necessary for you or not also depends on the cloud computing niche that you choose. Learning programming languages becomes essential if you want to enter the development field. If you want to be in the admin, sales, or service field, a basic understanding of coding would be enough to collaborate with other teams. 

2. Which programming language is required for AWS?

The AWS developers have multiple choices in programming languages. They can choose between Net, Python, Java, etc., depending on the requirements of the applications they are building. 

3. Which AWS certification is best for beginners without coding?

AWS System Administrators don’t require a background in coding, and their job profile doesn’t require work involving coding. For beginners without technical experience, AWS Certified System Admin is the best certification to start a career in AWS. The cert prep will give you all the necessary knowledge to start working on AWS, and then you can learn some basic coding concepts to excel in your job. 

4. What are the benefits of learning to code for AWS?

• Automation and Scalability: Knowing how to code allows you to automate many AWS tasks, making it easier to scale up or down as needed without manual intervention.
• Customization: With coding skills, you can tailor AWS services to your specific needs, ensuring that your infrastructure and applications run optimally.
• Cost Efficiency: Automating tasks can help in managing resources better, potentially saving costs in the long run.
• Career Advancement: AWS is a widely used platform, and knowing how to code for it can open up more job opportunities and potentially lead to higher salaries.
• Integration: With coding knowledge, you can better integrate AWS services with other third-party tools and services.
• Greater Control: While the AWS Management Console offers a graphical interface for many tasks, coding provides a deeper level of control over AWS resources.

5. What AWS services require coding?

• AWS Lambda: Allows you to run code in response to events like changes in data, system state, or user actions.
• Amazon API Gateway: Enables you to create, deploy, and manage APIs for applications.
• AWS CloudFormation: Uses code templates to define and provision AWS infrastructure resources.
• AWS Elastic Beanstalk: While it simplifies deploying services, you still need to code the actual applications you deploy.
• Amazon EC2 (to some extent): While you can launch and manage instances without coding, scripting can optimize many tasks.
• Amazon Lex: Building chatbots and applications with voice and text interfaces.

6. What are some of the challenges of learning to code for AWS?

• Complexity: AWS offers a wide range of services, and understanding how to code for each can be challenging.
• Continuous Changes: AWS frequently releases new services and updates existing ones. Keeping up with these changes can be demanding.
• Diverse Skill Set Requirement: Depending on the service, different coding languages or tools may be required.
• Debugging: Troubleshooting code in a cloud environment can be more challenging compared to local development.
• Cost Implications: While learning, it’s possible to inadvertently run services or resources that incur costs.
• Integration Complexity: Coding to integrate multiple AWS services or integrating AWS with external services can sometimes be intricate.