[opensourcedex]

aws-cdk is a free, open source cloud infrastructure management project written in TypeScript and released under Apache-2.0. It has 12,899 GitHub stars, 4,631 forks and 2,863 open issues, and was last pushed 4 hours ago. On this registry it ranks #12 of 43 tracked projects in Cloud Infrastructure Management, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available.

What is aws-cdk?

What it is

AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK) is an open-source software development framework for defining cloud infrastructure in code and provisioning it through AWS CloudFormation. It lives in the AWS ecosystem and ships under the Apache-2.0 license, with the core implementation written in TypeScript. The framework offers a high-level object-oriented abstraction that lets developers define AWS resources imperatively using modern programming languages rather than writing raw CloudFormation templates by hand.

The concrete problem it solves is the boilerplate and glue logic that accumulates when integrating many AWS services. Developers define reusable cloud components called constructs, compose those constructs into stacks, and group stacks into a CDK app. The AWS Construct Library provides a module for each AWS service, with constructs that encapsulate the details of how to use that service and encode AWS best practices that can be shared across teams.

Key capabilities

  • Define cloud infrastructure imperatively in JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, .NET, or Go.
  • Compose reusable constructs into stacks and assemble stacks into a CDK app.
  • Synthesize AWS CloudFormation templates from application code using the AWS CDK CLI.
  • Deploy stacks to development AWS accounts directly from the CLI.
  • Run a diff against a deployed stack to understand the impact of a code change.
  • Use the AWS Construct Library, which includes a module for each AWS service.
  • Rely on semantic versioning for modules designated Stable, while Experimental modules may change their API in any release.

Who uses it and how

  • Teams define infrastructure as code in a supported language and provision it through AWS CloudFormation.
  • Developers encapsulate AWS best practices inside constructs and share them without rewriting boilerplate logic.
  • Engineers use the CLI to synthesize CloudFormation templates, deploy stacks, and diff changes before applying them.
  • Projects adopt the framework across JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, .NET, and Go codebases.
  • Contributors participate through the repository's hacktoberfest and infrastructure-as-code topics.

Getting started

Install the library through the package manager for the chosen language: npm for aws-cdk, PyPI for aws-cdk-lib, NuGet for Amazon.CDK.Lib, Maven Central for software.amazon.awscdk/aws-cdk-lib, or the Go module github.com/aws/aws-cdk-go/awscdk/v2. The repository is also Gitpod ready-to-code, and the developer guide and API reference are linked from the homepage.

When to use it — and when not to

Use it when infrastructure should be expressed in a general-purpose programming language and provisioned through CloudFormation, especially when constructs need to be reused across projects. Be aware that Experimental modules may introduce breaking API changes in any release, and that language

project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline

AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK)

Build Status Gitpod Ready-to-Code NPM version PyPI version NuGet version Maven Central Go Reference

View on Construct Hub

The AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK) is an open-source software development framework to define cloud infrastructure in code and provision it through AWS CloudFormation.

It offers a high-level object-oriented abstraction to define AWS resources imperatively using the power of modern programming languages. Using the CDK’s library of infrastructure constructs, you can easily encapsulate AWS best practices in your infrastructure definition and share it without worrying about boilerplate logic.

The CDK is available in the following languages:

Third-party Language Deprecation: language version is only supported until its EOL (End Of Life) shared by the vendor or community and is subject to change with prior notice.


Jump To: Developer Guide | API Reference | Getting Started | Getting Help | Contributing | RFCs | Roadmap | More Resources

Developers use the CDK framework in one of the supported programming languages to define reusable cloud components called constructs, which are composed together into stacks, forming a "CDK app".

They then use the AWS CDK CLI to interact with their CDK app. The CLI allows developers to synthesize artifacts such as AWS CloudFormation Templates, deploy stacks to development AWS accounts and "diff" against a deployed stack to understand the impact of a code change.

The AWS Construct Library includes a module for each AWS service with constructs that offer rich APIs that encapsulate the details of how to use AWS. The AWS Construct Library aims to reduce the complexity and glue-logic required when integrating various AWS services to achieve your goals on AWS.

Modules in the AWS Construct Library are designated Experimental while we build them; experimental modules may have breaking API changes in any release. After a module is designated Stable, it adheres to semantic versioning, and only major releases can have breaking changes. Each module's stability designation is available on its Overview page in the AWS CDK API Reference. For more information, see Versioning in the CDK Developer Guide.

Getting Started

For a detailed walkthrough, see the tutorial in the AWS CDK Developer Guide.

At a glance

Install or update the AWS CDK CLI from npm (requires Node.js ≥ 14.15.0). We recommend using a version in Active LTS

npm i -g aws-cdk

(See Manual Installation for installing the CDK from a signed .zip file).

Initialize a project:

mkdir hello-cdk
cd hello-cdk
cdk init sample-app --language=typescript

This creates a sample project looking like this:

export class HelloCdkStack extends cdk.Stack {
  constructor(scope: cdk.App, id: string, props?: cdk.StackProps) {
    super(scope, id, props);

    const queue = new sqs.Queue(this, 'HelloCdkQueue', {
      visibilityTimeout: cdk.Duration.seconds(300)
    });

    const topic = new sns.Topic(this, 'HelloCdkTopic');

    topic.addSubscription(new subs.SqsSubscription(queue));
  }
}

Deploy this to your account:

cdk deploy

Use the cdk command-line toolkit to interact with your project:

  • cdk deploy: deploys your app into an AWS account
  • cdk synth: synthesizes an AWS CloudFormation template for your app
  • cdk diff: compares your app with the deployed stack

Getting Help

The best way to interact with our team is through GitHub. You can open an issue and choose from one of our templates for bug reports, feature requests, documentation issues, or guidance.

If you have a support plan with AWS Support, you can also create a new support case.

You may also find help on these community resources:

Roadmap

The AWS CDK Roadmap lets developers know about our upcoming features and priorities to help them plan how to best leverage the CDK and identify opportunities to contribute to the project. See ROADMAP.md for more information and FAQs.

Contributing

We welcome community contributions and pull requests. See CONTRIBUTING.md for information on how to set up a development environment and submit code.

Metrics collection

This solution collects anonymous operational metrics to help AWS improve the quality and features of the CDK. For more information, including how to disable this capability, please see the developer guide.

More Resources

readme truncated — read the full docs on github

Frequently asked questions

Is aws-cdk free to use?

aws-cdk is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does aws-cdk do?

The AWS Cloud Development Kit is a framework for defining cloud infrastructure in code

What is aws-cdk written in?

aws-cdk is primarily written in TypeScript. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk, and it has 12,899 GitHub stars.