How this book works

In 1 minute

This book teaches one real app, MiniTickets: a small ticketing site that runs on AWS. It has three layers. The path (Parts 0 to 6) is the only must; read it in order. The map and the reference are there when you need them, and practice helps the answers stick.

Picture it

flowchart LR
  P["1. The path<br/>Parts 0-6, read in order"] --> M["2. The map<br/>/map/, click any piece"]
  P --> R["3. The reference<br/>deep dives, casebook, appendix"]
  P --> X["Practice<br/>scenarios, flashcards, quizzes"]

How it works

1. Read the path. About 47 chapters of roughly 5 minutes. Each one explains one piece of MiniTickets with the real AWS term, then ties it to our real names, ports and files.
2. Open the map when a chapter links to it. The map shows every piece, who may talk to whom, and the exact rule that allows each connection. Flows replay one request step by step.
3. Answer the checkpoint. Five questions, one diagram to redraw from memory, and one small task. Then tick the chapter as read; the tick shows in the sidebar.
4. Use the reference later. When something breaks or an interviewer digs deeper, open the deep dive for that AWS service or the casebook entry for that symptom.

In MiniTickets

MiniTickets lets people browse events, sign up, log in and book tickets. An admin creates events. After a booking, a confirmation email and a QR ticket are made in the background. The web app is Next.js, the API is Fastify with tRPC, the data lives in Postgres and Valkey, and background work runs on SNS, SQS and Lambda.

Every chapter has the same shape, from “In 1 minute” to the checkpoint. The plan of all pages lives in one file: apps/book/src/data/outline.ts → parts.

Start the map at stage 0 →

See it in AWS

Console

You need no AWS account to read the book. When you have access, each chapter names the exact console page and field to look at.

CLI

Every command in the book only reads, for example aws sts get-caller-identity (which account and role am I using?). The book never shows a command that changes anything.

Code

The code is the source of truth. Code links point at the file and the function, like apps/api/src/app.ts → buildApp.

Break it

Symptom	Cause	Where to look
You know the words but cannot draw the system	You skipped the “redraw it” step	The checkpoint of each chapter
An interview follow-up stops you	You read the main part only	The follow-ups and the Advanced block

Say it in an interview

Say it like this (20-30 seconds)

MiniTickets is a ticketing app on AWS. The browser reaches an Application Load Balancer, which sends pages to a Next.js service and API calls to a Fastify service, both on ECS Fargate. The API keeps data in RDS Postgres and sessions in ElastiCache Valkey. A booking writes an outbox row in the same transaction; SNS, SQS and Lambda then send the email and make the ticket. The trade-off is cost: one small task each, no NAT gateway.

Follow-ups

Why one app and not many small examples?

Real systems fail at the seams: a security group that names the wrong source, a role missing one action. One connected app shows those seams. Small examples hide them.

What if I only have one hour?

Read Part 1 (the booking story and the whole map) and play the booking flow on the map. That gives you the shape of the system; the other chapters fill in each piece.

What is the trade-off of teaching with real terms?

The first pages are a little harder, because “security group” means less than a picture at first. But the words you learn are exactly the ones an interviewer uses, so nothing has to be translated later.

Advanced: How the book stays true to the code

The explorer, the “where it sits” diagrams, the connection tables and the permissions matrix are all generated from one data set in apps/book/src/data/, built from the code. pnpm book:check proves that every code link exists, every command only reads, and every diagram renders. A page may only claim a live AWS test when the owner’s acceptance log records one; otherwise it says “designed to” or “tested locally”.

Checkpoint

Answer these without scrolling up. If one feels hard, reread that section.

1. Which layer must you read, and in which order?
2. What does the map show that a chapter does not?
3. When would you open the casebook instead of a chapter?
4. What are the three parts of every checkpoint?
5. Name the five main pieces in the 30-second interview answer.

Redraw it from memory: the three layers and practice, with one arrow from the path to each

Try this: open the map, press Fit, then move the stage slider from 0 to 24 and watch MiniTickets grow

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