What are the main AWS services a Java backend developer should know?
Fast recall
Quick revision
Core answer
Interview-ready guide
Interview answer
I group AWS services by responsibility. For compute, a Java service may use EC2, ECS/EKS with nodes or Fargate, or Lambda. For data, common choices include RDS/Aurora, DynamoDB, ElastiCache, and S3. SQS, SNS, and EventBridge handle different queue and event patterns. API Gateway and load balancers expose traffic, IAM and VPC controls secure access and paths, and CloudWatch/X-Ray help observe the system.
For example, an order service could run as an ECS task, write relational order data to RDS, store invoice PDFs in S3, and place an order ID on SQS for fulfillment. An IAM role grants only the required operations, and CloudWatch records metrics and logs.
I would not say RDS handles everything, S3 is infinitely scalable, or Fargate eliminates servers. AWS operates more of the platform, while the team still owns configuration, data design, permissions, recovery testing, quotas, and cost. The best answer selects a small service set for a real architecture and explains each boundary.
What are the main AWS services a Java backend developer should know
Direct Answer
A Java backend developer should recognize AWS service categories and a few common examples: EC2 for virtual machines, ECS/EKS/Fargate for containers, Lambda for functions, RDS/Aurora and DynamoDB for data, S3 for objects, SQS/SNS/EventBridge for messaging, API Gateway or load balancers for traffic, IAM for access control, Secrets Manager for secrets, and CloudWatch/X-Ray for observability. The exact subset depends on the system.
Code Example
// Spring Boot service using RDS, S3, and SQS
@Service
public class OrderService {
private final OrderRepository repository; // RDS via JPA
private final S3Client s3Client;
private final SqsClient sqsClient;
public Order createOrder(OrderRequest request) {
var order = repository.save(
new Order(null, request.item(), request.quantity())
); // Saved to RDS PostgreSQL
// Upload order receipt PDF to S3
s3Client.putObject(
PutObjectRequest.builder()
.bucket("order-receipts")
.key("receipt-" + order.id() + ".pdf")
.build(),
RequestBody.fromBytes(generatePdf(order))
);
// Send message to SQS for async email notification
sqsClient.sendMessage(
SendMessageRequest.builder()
.queueUrl("https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456/notifications")
.messageBody("{\"orderId\":" + order.id() + "}")
.build()
);
return order;
}
}
Common Mistakes & Pitfalls
- Listing names without responsibilities: connect each service to a concrete workload need.
- Saying managed means AWS owns all operations: read the service's shared-responsibility and configuration model.
- Treating S3 like a POSIX filesystem or EC2 disk: design for object semantics.
- Ignoring IAM, networking, quotas, and cost: they are part of every service integration.
Looking for a structured roadmap?
Every module on this page is also part of the full Java backend interview track.