This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Mariam Adedeji
In 2025, Amazon Web Services (AWS) remains the dominant provider in cloud computing. With hundreds of services available, it can feel overwhelming to decide which ones you should focus on as a developer. The truth is, you don’t need to know everything. Mastering a core set of AWS services gives you the foundation to build scalable, secure, and cost-effective applications.
In this article, we’ll cover the 10 AWS services every developer should know, what they do, why they matter, and how you can start using them today.
1. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)
What it is: Virtual servers in the cloud.
Why it matters: EC2 remains the backbone of many applications that require full control over the operating system, custom runtimes, or complex workloads.
Example use case: Hosting APIs, batch processing, or running monolith applications.
2. AWS Lambda
What it is: A serverless compute service that runs code without provisioning servers.
Why it matters: Ideal for event-driven apps, microservices, and pay-per-execution workloads.
Example use case: Automatically process images uploaded to S3 or run lightweight APIs.
3. Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)
What it is: Highly scalable object storage for files, images, logs, backups, and more.
Why it matters: Nearly every AWS application touches S3 at some point.
Example use case: Store user uploads, serve static websites, or maintain data lakes.
4. Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service)
What it is: Managed relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, etc).
Why it matters: Saves developers from handling backups, patches, and scaling headaches.
Example use case: Powering transactional apps like e-commerce or banking systems.
5. Amazon DynamoDB
What it is: A fully managed NoSQL database with millisecond response times.
Why it matters: Perfect for apps that require scale, reliability, and near-zero latency.
Example use case: Gaming leaderboards, IoT device data, or session stores.
6. Amazon API Gateway
What it is: Fully managed service for creating, publishing, and managing APIs.
Why it matters: Provides a quick way to expose serverless functions or microservices securely.
Example use case: Backend for mobile apps, IoT APIs, or REST/GraphQL endpoints.
7. Amazon CloudFront
What it is: A Content Delivery Network (CDN) for fast and secure global content delivery.
Why it matters: Reduces latency by serving content from edge locations worldwide.
Example use case: Accelerating website content, APIs, or video streaming.
8. AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management)
What it is: Service for managing user access, roles, and permissions.
Why it matters: Security in AWS starts with IAM. Without proper roles and policies, you risk major vulnerabilities.
Example use case: Developers having least-privilege access to deploy only what they need.
9. Amazon CloudWatch
What it is: Monitoring and observability service for logs, metrics, and alarms.
Why it matters: You can’t fix what you can’t measure. CloudWatch helps you monitor app performance and costs.
Example use case: Tracking API latency, logging Lambda errors, or setting alerts for high CPU usage.
10. Amazon ECS / EKS (Containers on AWS)
What it is:
- ECS (Elastic Container Service): AWS-managed container orchestration.
- EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service): Fully managed Kubernetes on AWS.
Why it matters: Containers dominate modern application deployments. AWS provides managed services to scale them easily.
Example use case: Running microservices, CI/CD pipelines, or scalable backend APIs.
Final Thoughts
If you’re just starting, begin with EC2, S3, Lambda, and IAM. They’re simple to learn and power a surprising range of applications. As you grow, add RDS, DynamoDB, and API Gateway to your toolkit. For developers looking toward large-scale or production-ready systems, CloudFront, CloudWatch, and containers (ECS/EKS) are essential.
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This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Mariam Adedeji