Introducing AWS step functions

Working with Lambda functions so far has been really great for us and I hope it's been a similar experience for you as well! But there's a slight hitch that the Lambda service alone cannot help solve: how do you effectively coordinate and orchestrate Lambda functions so that they form a backbone for some really distributed applications that rely on complex workflows for execution? For most of you, working with AWS for a long time, the obvious answer would be to use something like AWS Simple Workflow Service (SWF) or maybe even create a single Lambda function that acts as an orchestrator for some other worker functions, but both these techniques have their own sets of pros and cons. To solve this, AWS unfolded the Step Functions web service during the AWS re:Invent 2016 event!

AWS Step Functions is basically an orchestration service for Lambda functions, using which you can orchestrate and control multiple Lambda function executions. Using Step Functions, you...