Why it matters

Step Functions is AWS orchestration default. Understanding shapes async pipelines.

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The architecture

State machine JSON.

States: Task, Choice, Parallel, Map, Wait.

Step Functions structureState machine JSONworkflow definitionState typesTask/Choice/etcExecutionsdurable + observableExpress (fast/cheap) vs Standard (durable/expensive) workflows
Step Functions.
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How it works end to end

Standard: durable, up to 1 year. Express: fast, 5 min max.

Retries + error handling built-in.

Distributed Map: parallel processing over collections.

Visualization: workflow graph.