AWS SDK for Java 2.x - Messaging (SQS & SNS)

Overview

Provides patterns for SQS queues and SNS topics with AWS SDK for Java 2.x: client setup, queue management, message operations, subscriptions, and Spring Boot integration.

When to Use

• Setting up SQS queues (standard or FIFO) for message buffering

• Implementing pub/sub with SNS topics and subscriptions

• Processing messages from SQS queues with long polling

• Configuring dead letter queues (DLQ) for error handling

• Integrating AWS messaging with Spring Boot applications

• Building event-driven architectures with SQS/SNS

Examples

Quick Setup

Dependencies:

<dependency>

    <groupId>software.amazon.awssdk</groupId>

    <artifactId>sqs</artifactId>

</dependency>

<dependency>

    <groupId>software.amazon.awssdk</groupId>

    <artifactId>sns</artifactId>

</dependency>

Client Configuration:

SqsClient sqsClient = SqsClient.builder()

    .region(Region.US_EAST_1)

    .credentialsProvider(DefaultCredentialsProvider.create())

    .build();

SnsClient snsClient = SnsClient.builder()

    .region(Region.US_EAST_1)

    .build();

SQS Operations

Create and Send Message:

String queueUrl = sqsClient.createQueue(CreateQueueRequest.builder()

    .queueName("my-queue")

    .build()).queueUrl();

String messageId = sqsClient.sendMessage(SendMessageRequest.builder()

    .queueUrl(queueUrl)

    .messageBody("Hello, SQS!")

    .build()).messageId();

Receive and Delete Message:

ReceiveMessageResponse response = sqsClient.receiveMessage(ReceiveMessageRequest.builder()

    .queueUrl(queueUrl)

    .maxNumberOfMessages(10)

    .waitTimeSeconds(20)

    .build());

response.messages().forEach(message -> {

    processMessage(message.body());

    sqsClient.deleteMessage(DeleteMessageRequest.builder()

        .queueUrl(queueUrl)

        .receiptHandle(message.receiptHandle())

        .build());

});

FIFO Queue:

Map<QueueAttributeName, String> attributes = Map.of(

    QueueAttributeName.FIFO_QUEUE, "true",

    QueueAttributeName.CONTENT_BASED_DEDUPLICATION, "true"

);

String fifoQueueUrl = sqsClient.createQueue(CreateQueueRequest.builder()

    .queueName("my-queue.fifo")

    .attributes(attributes)

    .build()).queueUrl();

sqsClient.sendMessage(SendMessageRequest.builder()

    .queueUrl(fifoQueueUrl)

    .messageBody("Order #12345")

    .messageGroupId("orders")

    .messageDeduplicationId(UUID.randomUUID().toString())

    .build());

SNS Operations

Create Topic and Publish:

String topicArn = snsClient.createTopic(CreateTopicRequest.builder()

    .name("my-topic")

    .build()).topicArn();

snsClient.publish(PublishRequest.builder()

    .topicArn(topicArn)

    .subject("Test Notification")

    .message("Hello, SNS!")

    .build());

SNS to SQS Subscription:

String queueArn = sqsClient.getQueueAttributes(GetQueueAttributesRequest.builder()

    .queueUrl(queueUrl)

    .attributeNames(QueueAttributeName.QUEUE_ARN)

    .build()).attributes().get(QueueAttributeName.QUEUE_ARN);

snsClient.subscribe(SubscribeRequest.builder()

    .protocol("sqs")

    .endpoint(queueArn)

    .topicArn(topicArn)

    .build());

Spring Boot Integration

@Service

@RequiredArgsConstructor

public class OrderNotificationService {

    private final SnsClient snsClient;

    private final ObjectMapper objectMapper;

    @Value("${aws.sns.order-topic-arn}")

    private String orderTopicArn;

    public void sendOrderNotification(Order order) throws JsonProcessingException {

        snsClient.publish(PublishRequest.builder()

            .topicArn(orderTopicArn)

            .subject("New Order Received")

            .message(objectMapper.writeValueAsString(order))

            .messageAttributes(Map.of(

                "orderType", MessageAttributeValue.builder()

                    .dataType("String")

                    .stringValue(order.getType())

                    .build()))

            .build());

    }

}

Instructions

Implement Message Processing (with Validation)

• Create queues/topics with appropriate configuration

• Send messages and validate messageId is returned

• Receive messages with long polling (waitTimeSeconds: 20)

• Process messages - validate payload before processing

• Delete messages only after successful processing - verify deletion response

• Check DLQ periodically for failed messages using redrivePolicy

• Verify delivery - monitor CloudWatch NumberOfMessagesSent metric

Validation Checklist:

// After send

if (messageId == null || messageId.isEmpty()) {

    throw new MessagingException("Message send failed - no messageId returned");

}

// After receive

if (response.messages().isEmpty()) {

    log.debug("No messages available - normal with long polling");

}

// After delete

if (!deleteResponse.sdkHttpResponse().isSuccessful()) {

    throw new MessagingException("Message deletion failed");

}

Setup Credentials

export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key

export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key

export AWS_REGION=us-east-1

Monitor and Debug

• CloudWatch metrics: ApproximateNumberOfMessages, NumberOfMessagesSent, NumberOfMessagesReceived

• Enable SDK logging: software.amazon.awssdk at DEBUG level

• Use X-Ray for distributed tracing

Best Practices

SQS:

• Use long polling (20-40s) to reduce empty responses and costs

• Always delete messages after successful processing

• Implement idempotent processing for duplicate handling

• Configure DLQ (redrivePolicy) for failed messages

• Use FIFO queues when order matters (300 msg/sec limit)

SNS:

• Use filter policies to reduce unnecessary deliveries

• Keep messages under 256KB

• Implement retry with exponential backoff

• Monitor NumberOfNotificationFailed metric

General:

• Use IAM roles over static credentials

• Reuse clients (they are thread-safe)

• Test with LocalStack or Testcontainers

Detailed References

• references/detailed-sqs-operations.md

• references/detailed-sns-operations.md

• references/spring-boot-integration.md

• references/aws-official-documentation.md

Constraints and Warnings

• Message Size: Maximum 256KB for SQS and SNS

• Visibility Timeout: Undeleted messages reappear after timeout - always delete after processing

• Input Validation: Sanitize message body before processing - messages may contain untrusted payloads

• FIFO Naming: Must end with .fifo suffix

• FIFO Throughput: 300 msg/sec per queue (use partitioning for higher throughput)

• Message Retention: SQS retains messages max 14 days

• DLQ Required: Configure dead letter queue to prevent message loss

• Region-Specific: SQS queues are region-specific; cross-region requires SNS