2.1.3. AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM)

First Principle: AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM) simplifies the definition and deployment of serverless applications by providing a concise syntax for common serverless resources.

AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM) is an open-source framework that extends AWS CloudFormation to provide a simplified way of defining serverless applications. It offers a shorthand syntax for declaring serverless resources like Lambda functions, API Gateway APIs, and DynamoDB tables.

Key Features of AWS SAM:

• Simplified Syntax: Express common serverless resources with fewer lines of code than raw CloudFormation.
• SAM CLI: Provides local testing capabilities (sam local invoke, sam local start-api), dependency bundling, and deployment commands (sam deploy).
• CloudFormation Transformation: SAM templates are transformed by AWS into standard CloudFormation templates before deployment, leveraging CloudFormation's robust deployment capabilities.
• Developer-Centric: Designed to accelerate the developer experience for serverless applications.

Scenario: You're building a new serverless application with several Lambda functions and an API Gateway endpoint. You want a simplified way to define these resources and deploy your application, avoiding verbose CloudFormation syntax. You also need to test your Lambda functions locally.

Reflection Question: How does AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM), with its simplified syntax and SAM CLI local testing capabilities, fundamentally simplify the development and deployment process for your serverless applications compared to using raw CloudFormation?