Is there a good way to orchestrate lambda functionality that changes based on a queue message? I was thinking about taking a similar approach described in the strategy pattern.
The lambda function is polling an SQS queue. The queue message would contain some context that is passed into a lambda telling it what workflow needs to be executed. Based on this message, the lambda would execute some corresponding script.
The idea behind this is that I can write code for different ad hoc jobs and use the same queue + lambda function for these jobs but have it delegate the work. This way, I can track unsuccessful jobs in a dead letter queue. Are there any red flags here or potential pitfalls I should be aware of when you hear this? Any advice would be appreciated. TIA!
EDIT: For some additional context, this different workflows triggered by this lambda will vary in compute resources needed. An example is ingesting a large dataset from an api call and doing some custom schematization on the contents before making an api call.
This is indeed possible, but there's a variety of approaches you may take. These depend on what type of workflow/processing you require.
As you highlight, Lambda could be used for this. It's worth noting that Lambda functions do not work well for computationally-intensive tasks.
If you were looking to perform a workflow with some complexity, you should consider AWS Step Functions. Suppose you had three "tasks" to choose from, you could define a Step Function for each, then use Lambda to (1.) receive the message & work out which task is required, then (2.) start an execution for the desired Step Function.
FYI, you don't need to make your Lambda function poll the SQS queue, instead, you can set up SQS to automatically trigger Lambda once a new message is added to the queue. See AWS Docs - Configuring a queue to trigger an AWS Lambda function.
If you edit your question with more info on what you're looking to do (processing-wise) with each message, people will be able to better help with your use-case.
Best of luck! :)