SWF is a web service that coordinates and manages the execution of activities across distributed application components. Tasks can be run asynchronously.
Amazon Simple Workflow Service (Amazon SWF)
Amazon SWF helps developers build, run, and scale background jobs that have parallel or sequential steps.
- Activity is a single step within a workflow.
- Task is a processing step, which interacts with workers – Activity Task and Decision task
- Worker receives a task and take action on it.
- SWF guarantees the order of execution – consistent execution.
SQS vs. SWF
- SQS has a 14-day retention period. In SWF, workflow executions can last up to 1 year.
- SQS is message-oriented, and SWF is task-oriented.
- SWF keeps track of all tasks and events.
- SWF can be used when human actions are required.