CDK

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Why use AWS CDK?

• Use familiar programming constructs: loops, conditionals, functions, modules, packages, and test frameworks.
• Build higher-level abstractions (constructs) that encapsulate best practices and are reusable across teams and projects.
• Rely on a rich AWS Construct Library for common services and patterns.
• CDK synthesizes your code into CloudFormation templates, so deployments still go through AWS CloudFormation.

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Typical CDK workflow

1. Write code that composes constructs into stacks inside a CDK app.
2. Run cdk synth to synthesize AWS CloudFormation templates from your CDK app.
3. Run cdk deploy to hand the templates to AWS CloudFormation, which creates or updates the stacks.

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Core CDK concepts

• Constructs: opinionated building blocks that represent one or more AWS resources.
• AWS Construct Library: pre-built constructs that map to AWS services and common patterns.
• Automated synthesis: transforms your code into CloudFormation templates.
• Reusability: parameterize constructs and stacks for environment-specific configuration.

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CDK in CI/CD pipelines

• Source: CodeCommit, GitHub, or another repository.
• CI: CodeBuild (or another runner) runs tests, builds artifacts, and runs cdk synth.
• CD: Deploys the synthesized CloudFormation templates via AWS CloudFormation to create/update resources.

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Quick reference: commands and minimal Python example

# app.py
import aws_cdk as cdk
from aws_cdk import Stack
from aws_cdk import aws_s3 as s3
from constructs import Construct

class MyStack(Stack):
    def __init__(self, scope: Construct, id: str, **kwargs) -> None:
        super().__init__(scope, id, **kwargs)
        s3.Bucket(self, "MyBucket", versioned=True)

app = cdk.App()
MyStack(app, "MyStack")
app.synth()

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Considerations and best practices

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Summary

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Links and references

• AWS CDK documentation: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/
• AWS CloudFormation docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/
• CDK Construct Library: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/api/v2/
• Kubernetes Documentation