Both coordinate workflows, but the exam wants you to know which AWS recommends today.
The modern choice
Step Functions is the modern, serverless workflow orchestrator with a visual state machine — AWS’s recommended choice for almost all new workflows. Simple Workflow Service (SWF) is the older service, used mainly when you need external human-task coordination or have existing SWF apps. New workflow orchestration → Step Functions.
Test yourself
A team is building a new serverless workflow to coordinate several AWS services and wants AWS’s recommended, modern orchestration service. Which one?
- Amazon SWF
- AWS Step Functions
- Amazon SQS
- AWS Batch
👉 Click to reveal the answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Step Functions is AWS’s modern, serverless workflow orchestrator recommended for new workflows. SWF (A) is the older service kept mainly for legacy/human-task cases; SQS (C) is a queue; Batch (D) runs batch jobs.
Related topics
AWS Step Functions · Amazon SWF · Amazon EventBridge
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