AWS
AWS API Gateway Patterns: Building Scalable APIs
Learn essential patterns and best practices for designing and implementing APIs using Amazon API Gateway, including security, integration patterns, and performance optimization
February 27, 2024
DevHub Team
2 min read
Amazon API Gateway enables you to create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale. This guide explores common patterns and best practices for building robust APIs.
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graph TB
subgraph Frontend["Client Applications"]
direction TB
Web["Web"]
Mobile["Mobile"]
IoT["IoT"]
end
subgraph Gateway["API Gateway"]
direction TB
subgraph Endpoints["API Endpoints"]
direction LR
REST["REST"]
HTTP["HTTP"]
WebSocket["WebSocket"]
end
subgraph Features["Gateway Features"]
direction LR
Auth["Authentication"]
Cache["Caching"]
Throttle["Throttling"]
end
subgraph Integration["Integration Types"]
direction LR
Lambda["Lambda"]
HTTP_INT["HTTP"]
Mock["Mock"]
end
end
subgraph Backend["Backend Services"]
direction TB
subgraph Compute["Compute"]
direction LR
LambdaFn["Lambda"]
ECS["ECS"]
EC2["EC2"]
end
subgraph Data["Data Services"]
direction LR
DynamoDB["DynamoDB"]
RDS["RDS"]
S3["S3"]
end
subgraph Messaging["Event Services"]
direction LR
SNS["SNS"]
SQS["SQS"]
EventBridge["EventBridge"]
end
end
Frontend --> Gateway
Gateway --> Backend
classDef frontendNode fill:#FF9900,stroke:#232F3E,color:#232F3E,stroke-width:2px,font-weight:bold
classDef gatewayNode fill:#232F3E,stroke:#232F3E,color:#FFFFFF,stroke-width:2px,font-weight:bold
classDef backendNode fill:#147EB4,stroke:#232F3E,color:#FFFFFF,stroke-width:2px,font-weight:bold
classDef groupStyle fill:transparent,stroke:#232F3E,stroke-width:2px,color:#232F3E,font-weight:bold
class Web,Mobile,IoT frontendNode
class REST,HTTP,WebSocket,Auth,Cache,Throttle,Lambda,HTTP_INT,Mock gatewayNode
class LambdaFn,ECS,EC2,DynamoDB,RDS,S3,SNS,SQS,EventBridge backendNode
class Frontend,Gateway,Backend,Endpoints,Features,Integration,Compute,Data,Messaging groupStyle
API Design Patterns
1. RESTful API Structure
openapi: 3.0.0 info: title: Product API version: 1.0.0 paths: /products: get: summary: List products parameters: - name: category in: query schema: type: string - name: limit in: query schema: type: integer responses: '200': description: List of products content: application/json: schema: type: array items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Product'
2. Lambda Integration
exports.handler = async (event) => { try { const pathParams = event.pathParameters || {}; const queryParams = event.queryStringParameters || {}; const body = event.body ? JSON.parse(event.body) : {}; switch (event.httpMethod) { case 'GET': return await handleGet(pathParams, queryParams); case 'POST': return await handlePost(body); case 'PUT': return await handlePut(pathParams, body); case 'DELETE': return await handleDelete(pathParams); default: return { statusCode: 405, body: JSON.stringify({ error: 'Method not allowed' }) }; } } catch (error) { return { statusCode: 500, body: JSON.stringify({ error: error.message }) }; } };
Best Practices
-
API Design
- Use consistent naming conventions
- Implement proper versioning
- Design for backward compatibility
- Use appropriate HTTP methods
-
Security
- Implement authentication
- Use API keys for B2B
- Enable WAF protection
- Implement request validation
-
Performance
- Enable caching where appropriate
- Implement throttling
- Use compression
- Monitor latency
-
Monitoring
- Set up CloudWatch metrics
- Configure access logging
- Monitor error rates
- Track usage patterns
References
API Gateway
REST
Serverless
Integration
