From Challenge to Creation: Building a Blog Post Generator with AWS and React

Disclaimer:

I used this project to generate this blog post. Of course, I've read through everything I've generated to make sure it doesn't sound too weird, or too different from when I wrote it from scratch. For the purposes of the project, I will not edit the AI-generated content. Instead, I will include my own notes in each section if I want to add more context or supplement what is provided.

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As an aspiring software engineer who is constantly looking for breakthroughs, I recently participated in a fascinating project that combined a variety of cutting-edge technologies. My goal? Create a blog post generator to showcase my technical skills and problem-solving abilities.

Concept taking shape

This journey started with a simple idea: What if I could create an app that helped content creators generate first drafts more efficiently? With React on the front end and a suite of AWS services, I set out to turn this concept into a reality.

Explore the AWS Ecosystem

Let’s be honest – working with AWS Amplify wasn’t love at first sight. My previous experience deploying applications using EC2 and NGINX made me feel that Amplify's workflow was somewhat restrictive. My previous experience with more straightforward server configurations made the initial setup a bit challenging.

EDIT: To clarify, this is my second application hosted on AWS. The first project used EC2 and NGINX. I definitely enjoyed that experience more. I'm a Linux user using Arch (with Hyprland as window manager). You can imagine why that's the case for me.

The biggest obstacle? Let Amplify serve my content exactly as I intended it. Each configuration adjustment felt like solving a complex puzzle, testing my patience and problem-solving skills. But isn’t that what growth is?

Technology stack

My tech stack has been carefully chosen:

• Front end: React
• AWS Services:
  • Amplify for deployment
  • Lambda for serverless computing
  • API Gateway is used to manage API interactions
  • Bedrock for AI capabilities
  • Cognito for user authentication

Bedrock’s IAM strategy proved to be another interesting challenge. Defining the right set of rules requires meticulous attention to detail - which illustrates the importance of precise access management.

EDIT: To clarify what's going on here, every time I add a region to my IAM policy and try to run my Lambda function, it switches regions. I still don't know why this is happening, my solution was to add all NA zones to the IAM policy.

Overcoming challenges

Every obstacle becomes a learning opportunity. While Amplify initially felt restrictive, I learned to work within its ecosystem and understand its strengths and limitations. Bedrock's IAM policy configuration becomes a masterclass in cloud security principles.

Proud moment

When the blog post generator was finally born, it was more than just a technical achievement. It’s a testament to persistence, learning, and the joy of creating something from scratch.

Reflection

This project reinforced what I have always believed: in technology, the journey is as important as the destination. Every challenge is an opportunity for growth, and every misconfiguration is a lesson in disguise.

To my aspiring engineers: keep building, keep learning, and never shy away from complex projects. Your next breakthrough may be just a line of code away.

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As my journey from technical support to software engineering continues, projects like this are my stepping stones. They are more than just apps; they are stories of growth, challenge, and continuous learning.

Want to see this project in action or dive into the technical details? Contact me - I'm always happy to discuss technology, share insights, and learn from other developers!

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Summary

This part of this blog post was also typed naturally. This project actually surprised me in some areas that I thought were more achievable. It's been a lot of fun working with technologies I haven't touched yet (other than Amplify). In the future, I'll probably avoid Amplify entirely unless it's a simple project where I just need quick hosting. It's a great tool, but its limitations can be frustrating at times. If you want to see this project in action, the "contact me" part is definitely true. I'm proud to show it to my friends and colleagues.

I’m really looking forward to my next project! This will be a redesigned version of a project I deployed previously. I'll combine some of the new skills I've acquired to make them more suitable for a production environment. Of course, I will also write a blog post about this project. Stay tuned for more!

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