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Deploy apps faster with this AWS Elastic Beanstalk tutorial

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The key value proposition of cloud-based development is the ability to quickly provision infrastructure and deploy apps. No other AWS service enables faster provisioning and deployment of Python, Ruby and Java applications than AWS' Elastic Beanstalk service.

In this quick Elastic Beanstalk tutorial, you'll learn how to take a server-side Python application that uses the Django framework for HTML and JavaScript generation and deploy it to the AWS cloud in minutes.

What is AWS Elastic Beanstalk?

AWS Elastic Beanstalk is a platform-as-a-service tool that automates application management, deployment and scaling. Users can create applications and host them inside AWS Elastic Beanstalk, where the service provides the necessary resources to ensure the application launches and is managed according to the user's configurations.

With traditional application deployment, a user would have to navigate the following:

Now, to deploy a Python app to Beanstalk, the hardest part is building the program. Once it works and is tested, simply compress the application's files and upload the zip file to a Beanstalk environment.

AWS Elastic Beanstalk benefits

The beauty of Amazon's Beanstalk service is its incredible simplicity. Consider the following capabilities of AWS Elastic Beanstalk and how it can benefit application developers:

  • Provision resources. Beanstalk provides users with the underlying infrastructure to support user applications without needing to invest in costly hardware or software.
  • Configuration. AWS provides users with many different customization options for both resources and environments.
  • Deployment. Automated deployment enables developers to focus on building the application itself.
  • Scaling. The Elastic Load Balancer and Auto Scaling tools can meet traffic needs on demand. AWS can also access different availability zones as needed to support reliability for users.
  • Monitoring. Beanstalk can support applications after deployment, providing logs and insights on performance and even built-in security tools.

Python app deployment on AWS Elastic Beanstalk

Once the application is uploaded, AWS provisions the requisite infrastructure, deploys the application and provides a publicly accessible URL to access the app. Want a custom domain name? Route 53 can easily map URLs to the instance as well.

Furthermore, for low-traffic applications, Beanstalk is relatively cheap. A simple website won't cost more than $10 a month to host, and users who sign up for an AWS free tier account won't receive a bill for several months.

To quickly deploy a Python-based application built with Flask, FastAPI or Django, consider using AWS' Elastic Beanstalk.

Cameron McKenzie has been a Java EE software engineer for 20 years. His current specialties include Agile development; DevOps; Spring; and container-based technologies such as Docker, Swarm and Kubernetes.

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