aws-lambda-java-base-images VS ruby-vips-lambda

After waiting more than a year for an official release of AWS Lambda support Java LTS release 17, and seeing Amazon continue to demure from announcing a release date, I finally just rolled my own custom base image to let me make use of these great new Java releases in a serverless environment. If that sounds useful, you can find base images for Java 17 and 18 at aleph0io/lambda/java in the ECR Public Gallery. Brief writeup here and source code on GitHub for the curious. I've built production services on these custom images, and so far they work a treat. If you pick them up, let me know what you build with them!

Prior to Lambda Containers we had to build a Lambda Layer using a myriad of techniques. The result was always something in the /opt directory, yet finding the right balance of what to put in that directory has always been a pain. For example, if your gem uses FFI (like ruby-vips) how do I build a layer, test it, and make sure that same layer is available for local development? Often times this required engineering some Docker & AWS SDK coordination. Not a simple process when means it could easily break or slow down testing upgrades to either the gem or supporting layer.