AWS API Gateway: Direct Service Integration without Lambda

Building serverless APIs often defaults to using Lambda functions, but direct integration between API Gateway and AWS services offers a faster, more secure, and highly cost-effective alternative. In this text-based course, you will learn how to design, configure, and secure direct integrations between API Gateway and services like DynamoDB. You will discover how to eliminate unnecessary compute layers, reduce latency, and implement robust security policies to protect your cloud infrastructure. What you'll learn: - Understand the core architecture of API Gateway, including REST vs HTTP APIs and integration types. - Configure direct integration between API Gateway and DynamoDB for efficient data retrieval and storage. - Apply secure access controls using IAM policies, API keys, and modern Cognito authentication flows. - Map request and response payloads using Velocity Template Language (VTL) to format data without custom code. - Implement zero-trust security concepts and CORS configurations to protect your API endpoints. - Practice building and deploying secure, production-ready serverless APIs through written step-by-step guides. The course starts with foundational cloud integration concepts and key terminology before guiding you through hands-on configuration patterns, mapping templates, and security best practices. This course is designed for beginner cloud developers, system administrators, and backend engineers looking to optimize their AWS architectures. No prior API Gateway experience is required, though a basic familiarity with AWS concepts is helpful. Start reading today to unlock the power of direct service integrations on AWS.