Unit and integration tests can run in the AWS cloud. To test in the cloud you may perform development locally, then deploy your code to the cloud. You then invoke your deployed code in the cloud context and inspect your results.

The value of testing in the cloud increases with cloud native application development. When testing in the cloud, your test environment most closely resembles your production runtime environment. These tests are frequently integration tests. You may run tests in the cloud against the same API’s and return values of the production system. Tests executed in the cloud can include the testing of IAM policies, service quotas and configurations.

Tests in the cloud provide the most reliable, accurate and complete coverage. While this type of testing may add latency to development feedback loops and may also add to cost, we encourage you to explore techniques to speed up feedback loops and also to optimize costs.