Dakota Lewallen

Blog

Notes from the cloud.

Distillations of what I've learned: AWS, the CDK, Git, and the occasional detour.

2025

  1. Save Time and Money by Shifting HIPAA Compliance Checks Left with CDK-Nag

    Make some easy money by checking sooner!

    2 min read#aws#cdk#compliance

2024

  1. Re:Invent Reflections

    2024 Edition

    3 min read#aws#reinvent

  2. How to Migrate From CodeCommit

    A short guide on how to migrate away from CodeCommit

    3 min read#aws#git

  3. To Build or to Reuse? A CDK Question

    Learn how to make your architecture more flexible, by optionally reusing existing resources (Code included 😉).

    4 min read#aws#cdk

  4. Multi-region Deployments with CDK

    Code Included!

    4 min read#aws#cdk

  5. Three Tips for Writing CDK Tests

    For those who want to be sure

    2 min read#aws#cdk#testing

2023

  1. CDK Dependency Strategies

    5 min read#aws#cdk

  2. DNS in AWS Made Even Easier!

    "Unbelievalbe" - Anonymous

    1 min read#aws#cdk#dns

  3. Split Horizon DNS in AWS Made Easy!

    Drum roll...

    2 min read#aws#cdk#dns

  4. TIL: How to CDK Diff Your Entire App

    Thanks to the internet, I learned how to diff all of the resources in a CDK project.

    1 min read#aws#cdk#til

2022

  1. How to Not Get Burnt by AWS Bills

    Here is a quick rundown on how to use Billing Alerts in AWS to prevent unexpectedly large bills.

    2 min read#aws#billing

  2. deno-diceware. A Deno Password Generator.

    Checkout this simple password generating CLI, built with Deno.

    1 min read#deno#cli#security

  3. Generate GraphQL Resolvers From Your Schema

    Learn how to quickly build GraphQL API's with the power of Neo4J and its' Node libraries.

    4 min read#graphql#neo4j#nodejs

  4. Git Branches in Five Minutes or Less

    Concise summary of Git Branches

    2 min read#git

  5. Git Essentials in Five Minutes or Less

    Concise summary of core Git concepts.

    2 min read#git

  6. Git Remotes in Five Minutes or Less

    Quickly understand the difference between local and remote repositories.

    2 min read#git

  7. How I host my personal site for ~$1USD/Month

    See how to host a simple website with AWS for extremely cheap.

    6 min read#aws#hosting

  8. Two Ways to Improve Your Node.js Application

    Improve your Node.js application with these two simple changes.

    3 min read#nodejs

  9. My First Week with Plausible

    I've detailed my experience trying out a new analytics platform, plausible. Let me know what you think!

    2 min read#tech#analytics#review