AWS Amplify vs AWS CodeStar

In a world where software development is growing at an incredibly rapid pace, development teams have to optimize their workflows to improve efficiency and reliability.

A CI/CD pipeline allows developers to integrate code into their workflows, thereby accelerating the software delivery lifecycle. If you are planning on switching to AWS for the same, you must have come across two development platforms, i.e., Amplify and CodeStar.

Here, we take a look at the features and advantages of each platform so that you can decide which one better suits your requirements.

What is AWS Amplify?

Amplify is a fairly recent yet one of the most popular platforms to develop full-stack apps on Amazon-hosted infrastructure.

Since it is offered as a Backend as a Service (BaaS) implementation, Amplify enables developers with the tools, services, code dependencies, and a CLI tool that can be used to configure the backends of your web and mobile deployments, serve static web apps instantly, and manage content outside AWS easily.

The AWS Management Console facilitates easy user management and allows you to integrate other AWS solutions into your app for added functionality.

AWS Amplify Core Features 

• Authentication

AWS is strict with project security and thus provides project owners with a fully managed user directory that can be used to restrict access to the web deployments hosted on Amplify.

Developers can create seamless onboarding with Google, Facebook, and Amazon Login, and integrate features like password recovery, multi-factor authentication, etc. 

• Data Storage

On Amplify, developers can opt to store their data either on S3 buckets for existing projects or use the persistent storage engine DataStore.

The latter allows developers to manage distributed and shared data easily without modifying the backend. On the other hand, S3 buckets can be used to store and access data anytime from anywhere.

• Powerful analytics

User behavior for your apps can be crucial to improve the UI and UX of your app and Amplify provides an intuitive way to monitor and report usage statistics.

A real-time data stream makes it easier to analyze the data and form marketing campaigns targeting user retention and engagement.

AWS Amplify Advantages 

• Easier AI configurations

While Amplify is primarily used to host static websites using Amazon CDN, it allows developers to integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities into their applications.

Powered by Sagemaker, your app can include features like TTS, instant image recognition and object identification, text translation and transcription, etc.

• AWS integrations

Amplify natively supports Android, iOS, Flutter, and React Native for mobile app development.

Moreover, as stated earlier, the Management Console is a powerful tool that allows developers to integrate their app code repositories with other solutions like S3 for data storage and AppSync for security.

• Integrated managed hosting

To increase the app development lifecycle, AWS provides a single CI/CD workflow pipeline as soon as you connect your app code with the Amplify Console.

Moreover, you get access to integrated threshold app monitoring, which notifies developers when a key event or metric crosses the predefined threshold.

What is CodeStar? 

According to the official documentation, CodeStar is a “cloud-based development service” from AWS that provides developers with the tools required to build and deploy applications quickly on AWS.

Each project on CodeStar comes with a unified UI that allows the development team to collaborate and manage all the software development activity in one place.

Moreover, you get Atlassian JIRA Software-powered issue tracking integrated into your project. Easily add owners and manage access, contributors, and viewers to release the code to your end-user faster.

CodeStar Core Features

• Team access management

CodeStar uses Amazon Identity Access Management (IAM) to provide secure access to your project.

You can easily manage team members and assign role-based security policies to each level of access, i.e., owners, contributors, and viewers from an intuitive user interface. 

• Hosted Git repository

When developing projects on CodeStar, you do not need to worry about managing the backend infrastructure to host Git repos.

Your app code is stored on CodeCommit by default, but you can also save it in a GitHub repository in your own account.

• Automated CD pipeline and deployment: 

CodeStar uses AWS CodePipeline, Amazon’s proprietary CI/CD service.

Every new project on CodeStar comes with a built-in automated pipeline that continuously tests, builds, and deploys code on each commit, accelerating the software development lifecycle.

CodeStar Advantages

• Central project dashboard

With multiple tasks to handle, CodeStar provides a simple unified dashboard that allows development teams to track and manage the development toolchain.

You can centrally manage the CI/CD pipeline and fix errors immediately to reduce downtime. Moreover, CodeStar directly integrates with CloudWatch and Atlassian JIRA Software for app monitoring and project management directly in the platform.

• Project templates

CodeStar project templates provide developers with the much-required jumpstart in high-paced production environments, allowing them to quickly develop and run a variety of deployments like web apps and services, websites, Alexa skills, etc.

As developers, you get the code to get started on your project in multiple programming languages like Ruby, PHP, JavaScript, C#, and Python.

• IDE integrations

CodeStar essentially streamlines multiple AWS services like CodeBuild, CodeCommit, CloudWatch, and Cloud9. The latter of those, Cloud9, is a cloud-based IDE that allows you to write, test, run, and debug your code using just a browser.

It comes with a terminal preloaded with AWS CLI, making it easier to start developing your project on AWS. Moreover, there is also support for Eclipse and Microsoft Visual Studio if that is what your developers prefer.

Conclusion

Amplify and CodeStar has distinct features, making them suitable for different audiences.

As a developer, you will need to decide which one better suits your workflow after thoroughly evaluating the requirements of your project.

Amplify is AWS’s backend as a service. Core features include storage, authentication, and hosting. Featured customers for this service are Branch, HyperTrack, and Amazon Music.

Codestar is a service for building and managing software development projects. Core features include project templates, team access management, and hosted git repository.

A leading app hosting company can help you gain deeper insights into how these platforms work and how they can help you improve the quality and reliability of your project workflows.

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