24.5 Development of REST APIs with API Gateway and Lambda: Development of Lambda functions with Python
Developing REST APIs with API Gateway and Lambda is a modern and efficient approach to creating back-end services. This approach combines the flexibility and scalability of serverless computing with the simplicity and interoperability of REST APIs.
What is API Gateway?
API Gateway is a managed service from Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows developers to create, deploy, and manage REST APIs in a secure and scalable way. With API Gateway, you can expose any HTTP or AWS Lambda application as a REST API, which makes it easier to integrate with other services and applications.
What is AWS Lambda?
AWS Lambda is a serverless computing service that lets you run your code without provisioning or managing servers. With Lambda, you can run code for virtually any type of application or back-end service, all without the need for systems administration. You can think of Lambda as your cloud computing unit that fires in response to HTTP events or requests.
Developing Lambda functions with Python
Python is a popular programming language for backend development due to its simplicity and large ecosystem of libraries and frameworks. AWS Lambda natively supports Python, which makes it easy to create Lambda functions with Python.
To create a Lambda function with Python, you need to write a Python function that is called when your Lambda function fires. This function receives an event object that contains information about the triggering event and a context object that contains information about the execution environment.
Here is an example of a simple Python Lambda function:
def lambda_handler(event, context):
print('Hello, World!')
This function simply prints "Hello, World!" when it is activated. The event object and context object are ignored in this example, but you can use them to access information about the triggering event and the execution environment, respectively.
Integrating API Gateway with Lambda
To expose your Lambda function as a REST API, you need to create an API in API Gateway and configure a route that triggers your Lambda function. When an HTTP request is sent to your API route, API Gateway triggers your Lambda function and returns the response from your Lambda function as the HTTP response.
To set up integration between API Gateway and Lambda, you need to follow these steps:
- Create a new API in API Gateway.
- Create a new route in your API.
- Configure the route to trigger your Lambda function.
After you configure the integration, you can test your API by sending an HTTP request to your API URL. If everything is configured correctly, you should see the response from your Lambda function in the HTTP response.
Conclusion
Developing REST APIs with API Gateway and Lambda is a powerful and flexible approach to developing back-end services. With native Lambda support for Python, you can take full advantage of the Python language to create efficient and scalable Lambda functions. By integrating your Lambda functions with API Gateway, you can expose your services as REST APIs, making it easier to integrate with other services and applications.
