Developer Tools
Access methods, environments, and the CI/CD pipeline (the “Code*” suite). The pipeline stages: source → build → deploy, orchestrated end to end.
Access & environments
| Service | Job | Key distinction |
|---|---|---|
| AWS CLI | Scriptable API access | Repeatable; some options are CLI-only |
| AWS CloudShell | Browser terminal, pre-authed | Nothing to install; not your instance |
| AWS Cloud9 | Browser IDE | Editor + debugger + collaboration |
| AWS X-Ray | Distributed tracing | Follows one request across services |
| AWS AppConfig | Feature flags / config | Safe rollout + rollback of config |
CI/CD pipeline
| Service | Stage | Key distinction |
|---|---|---|
| AWS CodeCommit | Source | Private Git repos |
| AWS CodeArtifact | Source (deps) | Package/dependency registry |
| AWS CodeBuild | Build | Serverless compile + test |
| AWS CodeDeploy | Deploy | In-place/blue-green/canary to existing infra |
| AWS CodePipeline | Orchestrate | Wires source→build→deploy together |
| AWS CodeStar | Toolchain setup | Provisions the whole suite (now CodeCatalyst) |
- CloudShell (terminal) vs Cloud9 (full IDE).
- CodeCommit (source) vs CodeArtifact (dependencies) vs Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR) (images).
- CodePipeline (orchestrates the release) vs CodeDeploy (performs one deploy stage).
- CloudWatch vs AWS CloudTrail vs X-Ray: metrics/logs vs API audit vs per-request trace.