Cloud and infrastructure / AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure
Choose a cloud service with intent
Compare managed compute, storage, networking, and observability across clouds.
Estimated time: 30 minutes
Learning outcome
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to compare AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure services for compute, storage, and networking — and choose the right one for a small project.
The cloud is someone else's computer
Cloud providers let you rent computing resources instead of buying and maintaining physical servers. You pay only for what you use.
The three major providers are:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) — the oldest and most mature. The largest selection of services.
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP) — strong on data, machine learning, and Kubernetes.
- Microsoft Azure — strong integration with Microsoft tools and enterprise customers.
What you typically need
Most small projects need three things:
| Need | AWS | GCP | Azure | |------|-----|-----|-------| | Virtual server | EC2 | Compute Engine | Virtual Machines | | Managed app runner | Elastic Beanstalk | App Engine | App Service | | Container runner | ECS / EKS | Cloud Run | Container Instances | | Object storage | S3 | Cloud Storage | Blob Storage | | Database | RDS | Cloud SQL | Azure SQL | | DNS | Route 53 | Cloud DNS | DNS |
Which one should you pick?
For a beginner:
- AWS if you want the most job opportunities and documentation. The learning curve is steep but worthwhile.
- GCP if you want the simplest developer experience. Cloud Run is remarkably easy for deploying containers.
- Azure if you work in a Microsoft-heavy environment or need .NET/Active Directory integration.
For this site (Programmer Newbie), we use Railway, which runs on top of cloud infrastructure and abstracts away most of the complexity. That is also a valid choice.
Common beginner mistakes
- Choosing a provider before understanding what you need. Pick the service that matches your project, not the provider with the most brand recognition.
- Leaving resources running. A forgotten virtual machine can run up a bill. Set up billing alerts and clean up resources you are not using.
- Thinking you need to learn all three. Learn one well. The concepts transfer. Once you understand AWS EC2, GCP Compute Engine and Azure Virtual Machines feel familiar.
Practice task
Sign up for a free tier account on one cloud provider. Deploy your container from the previous lesson to a free-tier service (AWS ECS with Fargate, GCP Cloud Run, or Azure Container Instances).
Recap
- Cloud providers let you rent compute, storage, and networking resources.
- AWS, GCP, and Azure offer similar services with different names and interfaces.
- Start with one provider and learn it well. Concepts transfer.
- Set up billing alerts and clean up unused resources.
Next step
Now that you know how to choose cloud services, the final lesson in this curriculum helps you tell the story of your project — essential for interviews and collaboration.