AWS Step Functions Documentation

AWS Step Functions is designed to provide serverless orchestration for modern applications. Orchestration is designed to centrally manage a workflow by breaking it into multiple steps, adding flow logic, and tracking the inputs and outputs between the steps. As your applications execute, Step Functions is designed to maintain application state, tracking which workflow step your application is in, and storing an event log of data that is passed between application components. Application development with Step Functions allows you to define and manage the workflow of your application independently from its business logic. Making changes to one is designed not to affect the other.

Workflow configuration

Using AWS Step Functions, you are enabled to define your workflows as state machines.

Service primitives

AWS Step Functions is designed to provide you with steps for your workflow called states that implement basic service primitives for you. States are designed to pass data to other states and microservices, handle exceptions, add timeouts, make decisions, execute multiple paths in parallel, and more.

Variable and payload management

AWS Step Functions is designed to provide enhanced variable and payload management features to support the development of your applications. This enables developers to store and reference payload data more easily within Step Functions workflows using Variables. You can assign and reference data in your workflows. Developers can utilize built-in data transformation capabilities.

Accelerate innovation and simplify modernization of distributed applications with seamless integration across private and public networks

AWS Step Functions is designed to support integration with AWS services, SaaS applications, and private APIs. You can bring the capabilities of AWS cloud and external SaaS applications to new and existing workloads. You can build, manage, and orchestrate workflows composed of your applications, AWS services and SaaS applications.

Coordination of distributed components

AWS Step Functions enable you to coordinate applications that make an HTTPS connection from various host locations. Using Step Functions, you can create distributed applications that leverage AWS services as well as your own microservices.

Component reuse

With AWS Step Functions, you can coordinate your existing Lambda functions and microservices into applications and rewire them into new compositions. The tasks in your workflow are designed to run on instances, containers, functions, and mobile devices.

Workflow abstraction

AWS Step Functions enables you to keep the logic of your application separated from the implementation of your application. You can add, move, swap, and reorder steps without making changes to your business logic.

State management

AWS Step Functions is designed to maintain the state of your application during execution, including tracking what step of execution it is in, and storing data that is moving between the steps of your workflow.

Built-in error handling

You can use AWS Step Functions to handle errors and exceptions with try/catch and retry. You can retry failed or timed-out tasks, respond differently to different types of errors, and recover by falling back to designated cleanup and recovery code.

History of each execution

AWS Step Functions is designed to deliver diagnostics and dashboards and log every execution, including overall state, failed steps, inputs, and outputs.

Visual monitoring

You can launch an application and watch the steps execute visually. The console is designed to highlight errors.

Availability

AWS Step Functions is designed with fault tolerance and to maintain service capacity across multiple Availability Zones in each region.

Scaling

AWS Step Functions is designed to scale the operations and underlying compute to run the steps of your application in response to changing workloads. Step Functions scales to help the performance of your application workflow remain consistent as the frequency of requests increases.

High volume orchestration

AWS Step Functions is designed with Express Workflows. Express Workflows are designed to support event rates that enable you to build high volume, short duration workflows.

Parallel processing

Step Functions are designed to iterate over objects such as images, logs, or CSV files stored in Amazon S3, then launch and coordinate parallel workflows to process the data.

Additional Information

For additional information about service controls, security features and functionalities, including, as applicable, information about storing, retrieving, modifying, restricting, and deleting data, please see https://docs.aws.amazon.com/index.html. This additional information does not form part of the Documentation for purposes of the AWS Customer Agreement available at http://aws.amazon.com/agreement, or other agreement between you and AWS governing your use of AWS’s services.