System architecture

At first glance, a three-tier web application using a REST API can be an easy topic and pattern. After all, there are only three layers, which are responsible for very discrete tasks, and the final result is just a web application after all. However, there are many nuances and areas for tweaking with any web application. Serverless web applications are no different. This chapter will attempt to cover as many areas as possible, but it's impossible to include every possible configuration or design option.

Seeing as we are responsible software designers, let's sketch out our architecture at a high level and drill down into more detail as we work through the different layers:

This diagram should look familiar as it's the backbone of many client-server web applications out there today. Let's walk through the different layers, going from the top down. After discussing these layers at a high level, we'll get into the implementation details with a real-world example.

You can find all of the code in this chapter in the following repository:

https://github.com/brianz/serverless-design-patterns/tree/master/ch2