Getting Started

Overview

In order to create a Lambda function compatible with mParticle Firehose you'll be creating a Lambda function just like any other, and then using the Java library in this repository to parse and facilitate communication in between mParticle and your function.

mParticle has created a sample project to get you started quicker, but it may also be useful to read an overview on AWS Lambda here: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/java-gs.html

Cloning the Sample Project

In order to get started quicker, you can clone the sample project located here:

https://github.com/mParticle/lambda-extension-sample

How the sample project works

The sample project takes care of the basics of creating a lambda function for you. Most importantly it includes a class that implements the RequestStreamHandler interface of the Amazon AWS lambda SDK. When data is received by the RequestStreamHandler, it's deserialized by the mParticle Java SDK into POJOs to be used by you, as in the following snippet:

/**
 * Sample AWS Lambda Endpoint
 */
public class SampleLambdaEndpoint implements RequestStreamHandler {

    @Override
    public void handleRequest(InputStream input, OutputStream output, Context context) throws IOException {
        SampleExtension processor = new SampleExtension(); //you will implement this class in a later step
        MessageSerializer serializer = new MessageSerializer(); //mParticle class for deserialization
        Message request = serializer.deserialize(input, Message.class);
        Message response = processor.processMessage(request); //request is processed by you here
        serializer.serialize(output, response);
    }
}

Implementing MessageProcessor

In the example above, incoming data is deserialized to a Message object, and passed in to SampleExtension. SampleExtension is any class that extends the mParticle Java SDK's MessageProcessor - which you will implement. This will serve as the entry point to all of your logic and ultimately, the 3rd-party service to which you're integrating.

Next Step

Continue on to Implementing the MessageProcessor to learn the types of Message objects and how to process them.