AWS SDK for Java 2.x - AWS Lambda
Overview
AWS Lambda is a compute service that runs code without managing servers. Use this skill to implement AWS Lambda operations using AWS SDK for Java 2.x in applications and services.
When to Use
- Invoking Lambda functions from Java applications
- Deploying and updating Lambda functions via SDK
- Managing function configurations and layers
- Integrating Lambda with Spring Boot applications
Quick Reference
| Operation | SDK Method | Use Case |
|-----------|------------|----------|
| Invoke | invoke() | Synchronous/async function invocation |
| List Functions | listFunctions() | Get all Lambda functions |
| Get Config | getFunction() | Retrieve function configuration |
| Create Function | createFunction() | Create new Lambda function |
| Update Code | updateFunctionCode() | Deploy new function code |
| Update Config | updateFunctionConfiguration() | Modify settings (timeout, memory, env vars) |
| Delete Function | deleteFunction() | Remove Lambda function |
Instructions
1. Add Dependencies
Include Lambda SDK dependency in pom.xml:
<dependency>
<groupId>software.amazon.awssdk</groupId>
<artifactId>lambda</artifactId>
</dependency>
See client-setup.md for complete setup.
2. Create Client
Instantiate LambdaClient with proper configuration:
LambdaClient lambdaClient = LambdaClient.builder()
.region(Region.US_EAST_1)
.build();
For async operations, use LambdaAsyncClient.
3. Invoke Lambda Function
Synchronous invocation:
InvokeRequest request = InvokeRequest.builder()
.functionName("my-function")
.payload(SdkBytes.fromUtf8String(payload))
.build();
InvokeResponse response = lambdaClient.invoke(request);
return response.payload().asUtf8String();
See invocation-patterns.md for patterns.
4. Handle Responses
Parse response payloads and check for errors:
if (response.functionError() != null) {
throw new LambdaInvocationException("Lambda error: " + response.functionError());
}
String result = response.payload().asUtf8String();
5. Manage Functions
Create, update, or delete Lambda functions:
// Create
CreateFunctionRequest createRequest = CreateFunctionRequest.builder()
.functionName("my-function")
.runtime(Runtime.JAVA17)
.role(roleArn)
.code(code)
.build();
lambdaClient.createFunction(createRequest);
// Verify function is active before proceeding
GetFunctionRequest getRequest = GetFunctionRequest.builder()
.functionName("my-function")
.build();
GetFunctionResponse getResponse = lambdaClient.getFunction(getRequest);
if (!"Active".equals(getResponse.configuration().state())) {
throw new IllegalStateException("Function not active: " + getResponse.configuration().stateReason());
}
// Update code
UpdateFunctionCodeRequest updateCodeRequest = UpdateFunctionCodeRequest.builder()
.functionName("my-function")
.zipFile(SdkBytes.fromByteArray(zipBytes))
.build();
lambdaClient.updateFunctionCode(updateCodeRequest);
// Wait for deployment to complete
Waiter<GetFunctionConfigurationRequest> waiter = lambdaClient.waiter();
waiter.waitUntilFunctionUpdatedActive(GetFunctionConfigurationRequest.builder()
.functionName("my-function")
.build());
See function-management.md for complete patterns.
6. Configure Environment
Set environment variables and concurrency limits:
Environment env = Environment.builder()
.variables(Map.of(
"DB_URL", "jdbc:postgresql://db",
"LOG_LEVEL", "INFO"
))
.build();
UpdateFunctionConfigurationRequest configRequest = UpdateFunctionConfigurationRequest.builder()
.functionName("my-function")
.environment(env)
.timeout(60)
.memorySize(512)
.build();
lambdaClient.updateFunctionConfiguration(configRequest);
7. Integrate with Spring Boot
Configure Lambda beans and services:
@Configuration
public class LambdaConfiguration {
@Bean
public LambdaClient lambdaClient() {
return LambdaClient.builder()
.region(Region.US_EAST_1)
.build();
}
}
@Service
public class LambdaInvokerService {
public <T, R> R invoke(String functionName, T request, Class<R> responseType) {
// Implementation
}
}
See spring-boot-integration.md for complete integration.
8. Test Locally
Use mocks or LocalStack for development testing.
See testing.md for testing patterns.
Examples
Basic Invocation
public String invokeFunction(LambdaClient client, String functionName, String payload) {
InvokeRequest request = InvokeRequest.builder()
.functionName(functionName)
.payload(SdkBytes.fromUtf8String(payload))
.build();
InvokeResponse response = client.invoke(request);
if (response.functionError() != null) {
throw new RuntimeException("Lambda error: " + response.functionError());
}
return response.payload().asUtf8String();
}
Async Invocation
public void invokeAsync(LambdaClient client, String functionName, Map<String, Object> event) {
String jsonPayload = new ObjectMapper().writeValueAsString(event);
InvokeRequest request = InvokeRequest.builder()
.functionName(functionName)
.invocationType(InvocationType.EVENT)
.payload(SdkBytes.fromUtf8String(jsonPayload))
.build();
client.invoke(request);
}
Spring Boot Service
@Service
public class LambdaService {
private final LambdaClient lambdaClient;
public UserResponse processUser(UserRequest request) {
String payload = objectMapper.writeValueAsString(request);
InvokeResponse response = lambdaClient.invoke(
InvokeRequest.builder()
.functionName("user-processor")
.payload(SdkBytes.fromUtf8String(payload))
.build()
);
return objectMapper.readValue(
response.payload().asUtf8String(),
UserResponse.class
);
}
}
See examples.md for more examples.
Best Practices
- Reuse clients: Create
LambdaClient/LambdaAsyncClientonce; they are thread-safe - Use async client: For fire-and-forget invocations, use
LambdaAsyncClientwithCompletableFuture - Verify deployments: Always wait for function state to be
Activeafter create/update operations - Limit payload size: Keep request/response payloads under 256KB for async, 6MB for sync invocations
- Configure timeouts: Set client read timeout slightly higher than Lambda function timeout
- Use latest runtime: Specify
Runtime.JAVA17or newer for improved cold start performance
Constraints and Warnings
- Payload Limit: 6MB (sync), 256KB (async invocation)
- Timeout: Max 900 seconds (15 minutes) per invocation
- Cold Starts: JVM-based functions have longer cold starts; use GraalVM Native Image for improvement
- Deployment Size: Function code + layers must not exceed 50MB (zipped) or 250MB (unzipped)
- Concurrency: Default 1000 per region; use reserved concurrency to guarantee capacity
- Cost: Monitor with CloudWatch metrics; set billing alerts to prevent runaway costs
References
- client-setup.md — Client configuration and setup
- invocation-patterns.md — Synchronous and async invocation patterns
- function-management.md — Create, update, delete functions
- spring-boot-integration.md — Spring Boot configuration and services
- testing.md — Unit and integration testing patterns
- examples.md — Complete code examples and integration patterns
- official-documentation.md — AWS Lambda concepts and API reference
Related Skills
aws-sdk-java-v2-core— Core AWS SDK patterns and client configurationspring-boot-dependency-injection— Spring dependency injection best practicesunit-test-service-layer— Service testing patterns with Mockitospring-boot-actuator— Production monitoring and health checks