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A Philosophy For Effective Error Handling (Using JavaScript Examples)

Error handling can be a confusing topic — for a long time I struggled to understand error handling myself. I found the whole topic quite mystical and daunting. I ended up subscribed to the school of thought: “let the error throw and pray”. But, over time, I learned there are simple, easy to understand strategies for error handling that lead to noticeably better results than hope alone!

If, like I did, you also have difficulty understanding error handling then you’re in the right place. After years working with JavaScript, and speaking/working with other engineers, a style of applications layout for handling errors emerged in my own work. And it’s this philosophy for error handling that I want to share with you today.

By the end of the article you’ll understand how to structure an application to handle errors effectively, achieve more understanding of the application, deliver better error messages and have an easier time debugging.

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How To Setup Monitoring / Observability On Existing Software (e.g. A Web API): A Practical 5 Step Guide.

Recently I find myself in the position of applying monitoring to existing software applications quite often. Whilst I have been applying the monitoring tools, I noticed that I follow the same steps each time…

Request Invocations

Which got me thinking: “Could you create a ‘recipe’ or ‘cookbook’ for how to apply monitoring to an existing software application?”. I set to work writing this article, and I can conclude, the answer is: yes!

By the end of this article you’ll know the 5 steps you should take when setting up monitoring on an existing service. 

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How Do You Look at Console.Log Output of an Amazon Lambda Function?

Are you creating a lambda function? Are you currently debugging wondering where you can access the output of your console.log entries?

Understanding how logs work is a common confusion area when working with AWS Lambda. Today, we’re going to clear up the confusion and get your hands on your AWS Lambda logs so that you can start to debug your Lambda function.

By the end of this article you’ll understand how and where console.log output goes from an AWS Lambda function, and also how to debug your AWS Lambda setup if you’re still not seeing log output. 

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Book Summary: “Building Microservices” By Sam Newman

1 Sentence Summary: Building Microservices allows us the opportunity to tackle software complexity and deliver faster; if (and it’s a big if) we build our services right: choosing the right tech, interfaces and integration patterns.

Building Microservices Book

Microservices are a way of breaking down applications into their parts so that businesses can deliver the components separately, experiment with distinct technology stacks and create clear boundaries between business logic.

But building microservices isn’t easy an easy task. With microservices you need to consider many things, such as: how (and where) you split the services, how they talk to each other (integration) and what data they share.

It’s in-vogue at the moment to debate on the virtues of Microservices vs. Monoliths. But ultimately they’re just two different architectural patterns that solve different use cases. Ideally you should understand both patterns.

Here are my three big takeaways:

  • An architect is a town planner
  • Microservices are data abstractions
  • Independently deploy services
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Terraform: How To Rename (Instead Of Deleting) A Resource

Are you trying to rename or move a Terraform resource and Terraform is now trying to re-create your resource rather than referencing the existing one?

It’s a common issue, and the answer is quite straight-forward. Today we’ll cover how you can move a Terraform resource instead of deleting it.

By the end of this article you’ll understand how to rename, instead of deleting a resource and the reasons for how / why it works. 

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How I Gained Consistent Traffic To My Website Using SEO (And How You Can, Too)

Are you growing a website of your own? Are you looking to generate traffic to view your work? I want to take a slight step away from the usual proceedings of cloud content to talk about a somewhat different topic, website growth.

SEO Cover

Some of you reading will have your own websites or blogs—and like me—you want to reach the widest audience possible. Today I’m going to give you a behind the scenes look at exactly what I did over the last year to gain consistent, repeatable traffic growth to my own website through SEO.

By the end of this article you’ll know the two big changes that increased my traffic by 6X in less than 9 months. You’ll also understand three techniques I use to find winning article topics. 

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Reader Question: Which AWS Certificates Should You Start With If You’re A Junior?

In reader questions I share real reader questions / answers. In this question we discuss with AWS and where to start with AWS certificates. Also, if you have a question of your own, feel free to submit it.

Question

Hey Lou, I’ve been following you since I registered in Dev.to.

Your posts and blog are some of the reasons I got interested in Cloud, but I kept delaying it because I didn’t want to rush into it, now that I’ve learned Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes, Jenkins, Ansible, Linux administration and a bit of cloud with Digital Ocean droplets (mind you I’m a junior so I have very little experience), I feel ready to begin AWS, I’m so excited you have no idea. I bought a course on AWS Architect Associate, but I haven’t started it yet, I have one question.

I’m aware AWS has four levels: foundational, associate, professional and specialty. I’m also aware associate has three paths: architect, developer, sysops.

I read that it could take a couple years to move from associate to professional, should I put all my time into one path? or should I learn all three associate paths before focusing on one?

Also, if you have any general advice for me and/or any useful posts from your blog before I begin AWS I’d seriously appreciate it.

Thank you very much!

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The Simplest Possible EC2 Web Server Setup Using Terraform (On AWS)

Are you looking to create a basic AWS instance web server? Maybe you’re learning AWS, trying to get an understanding on Terraform or actually trying to get a pieceof your infrastructure setup. Whatever your reason for needing a simple AWS web server setup, that’s what we’ll be covering today.

Today we’ll walk through (in detail) how to create the simplest possible EC2 web server on AWS using Terraform. We’ll cover all of the fiddly AWS details like AMI’s and user data scripts.

By the end of this article you’ll know how to create a simple Apache based web server on AWS EC2 written in Terraform. 

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What is Terraform? A Simple Definition.

So you might have heard of this Terraform thing, but you’re not totally sure what it is, right? Not to fear, we’ve got you covered…

Today we’re going to dive into what Terraform is, why it’s useful, how it compares to other tools, and some of the difficulties of using it.

By the end of this article you’ll understand what Terraform is, why it’s useful and what you’d use it for. 

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10 Terraform Best Practices: For Secure & Fast Infrastructure.

If you’ve just started working with Terraform you might be getting that familiar feeling in the back of your mind: “Am I doing this the right way?“.

Terraform Best Practices

Today we’re going to tackle your nagging feelings head on by discussing all the important best practices for Terraform, so that you have the confidence to go full steam ahead with your project.

By the end of this article you’ll understand 10 best practices to follow when implementing Terraform.