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Introduction

In today's world, where technology permeates every aspect of our lives, the power to connect communities through innovative digital solutions has never been more crucial. This article outlines the development journey of a public photo gallery app, demonstrating that it's possible to achieve significant results even with limited resources.

App Scope

The challenge was clear: to create a photo gallery app accessible to all church members, where photos from events and services could be shared. As a volunteer project, the app aimed not only to preserve valuable memories but also to promote inclusion and a sense of community among the members.

Need for Low Cost

Operating under the premise of a volunteer and non-profit project, it was essential to minimize costs as much as possible. This requirement shaped all development decisions, from the choice of technologies to the app's architecture, ensuring the project's financial sustainability was not just an aspiration but a reality.

High Availability
Anticipating significant demand, with up to 5,000 active users, high availability was a non-negotiable requirement. The app needed to provide a flawless experience, regardless of the number of simultaneous accesses, ensuring all community members could connect and share experiences consistently.

Architectural Strategy

The solution was to minimize backend complexity, opting for an architecture that maximized the use of serverless services. Focusing on AWS, I deepened my knowledge in AWS CDK, AWS SDK, and S3 policies, aiming for a direct and efficient integration between the frontend and the photo storage on S3. This approach not only met the low-cost and high-availability requirements but also simplified the app's maintenance and update process.

Conclusion

The result was a robust photo gallery app, capable of listing photos stored on S3 as albums, accessible to all church members. Using the NPM package AWS SDK, I achieved an effective integration that allowed the frontend to query and display the files from the S3 bucket in an organized and scalable manner. This project not only fulfilled its initial purpose but also served as a valuable learning experience on how technological solutions can be implemented economically and efficiently.

In Practice

This article is just the beginning. In the next one, I will detail the technical steps, challenges faced, and solutions adopted during the app's development, offering practical insights for those interested in embarking on similar projects. Stay tuned for a detailed guide on applying these strategies to your own projects, demonstrating that technological innovation is within reach for everyone, regardless of budget.