While it's possible to create and edit Lambda functions solely within the Lambda dashboard, it is highly recommended that you use a system such as the AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM) to structure your applications. Use SAM in combination with a version control system such as AWS CodeCommit so that you can maintain a revision history and share your code with colleagues.

SAM templates are a superset of AWS CloudFormation and use abbreviated commands that make creating Lambda functions much easier. The following screenshot shows an example SAM template that was created using AWS Cloud 9, an excellent web-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that you can run from your own account:

SAM templates make it easier to create Lambda functions with Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and they should be your default way of allowing your development teams to create serverless microservices.