Learn how to develop AWS Lambda functions using the Go programming language that can be used with Alexa virtual assistants.

1. Developing Amazon Alexa Skills
with the Go Programming
Language
Nic Raboy
Tracy Developer Meetup Organizer

2. The Agenda

3. The Agenda
• Getting Familiar with AWS Lambda
• Getting Familiar with the Alexa Developer Portal
• Understanding the Request and Response Format for Alexa
• Assigning Logic to Alexa Requests (Intents)

4. Something to Note
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is not a requirement, it is a convenience.

5. Amazon Alexa Skills

6. Alexa Powered Devices

7. What is an Alexa Skill?

8. Using Alexa Skills
• Alexa, ask Nest to set the thermostat to 75 degrees
• Alexa, ask Uber to request a ride
• Alexa, ask WebMD for the side effects of Methamphetamine

9. Alexa in Action
• Alexa performs a speech to text analysis
• Alexa recognizes the invocation word
○ Ex: Uber, Nest, WebMD, etc.
• Alexa associates the spoken command to an Intent
• The Intent information with optional parameters are sent to the API

10. Functions as a Service (FaaS) with AWS
Lambda

11. The AWS Lambda SDK for Golang

12. Hello World with AWS Lambda

13. Cross-Compiling and Bundling for Lambda

14. AWS Lambda Dashboard

15. The Alexa Developer Portal

16. Alexa Developer Dashboard

17. Alexa Invocation Name
• Not the same as the Skill name.
• Used to initiate Skill on an Alexa powered device.
○ Alexa, ask INVOCATION_NAME…
• Should be real words that can be easily pronounced.
• Should be unique to prevent Skill overlap.

18. Alexa Intents and Sample Utterances
• An Alexa Skill has numerous Intents.
• Intents are individual Skill commands or actions.
○ Ex: Get the current temperature.
○ Ex: Get the weekly forecast.
• Utterances are phrases to activate an Intent.
• The more utterances for an Intent, the less likely to be misunderstood.
• Alexa has reserved Intents for specific functionality.
○ Ex: Asking for help using the Skill

19. Sample Utterances for `AboutIntent`

20. Sample Utterances with Slot Variables

21. The Request and Response Format

22. Request Objects

23. Response Objects

24. Request and Response Objects

25. The Unofficial Alexa SDK for Golang

26. Handling the Request Intents

27. Hello World with Alexa

28. Hello Human with Alexa

29. Intent Dispatching of Alexa Requests

30. Reserved Alexa Intents
• HelpIntent
• StopIntent
• CancelIntent
• FallbackIntent

31. Reserved Alexa Intents

32. A Realistic Example

33. Slick Deals

34. Slick Deals RSS Feed

35. RSS XML Data Structure in Go

36. RSS XML Data Structure in Go

37. RSS XML Data Structure in Go

38. Queue the Demo

39. Closing Thoughts

40. Summary
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) is not a requirement, it is a convenience.
• Invocation names should be real words that are pronounceable with most accents.
• Sample utterances should exist for all possible requests.
• Functions should finish executing quickly.

41. Alexa Developer Promotions
https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit/alexa-developer-skill-promotion

42. Slick Dealer for Slickdeals.net
https://github.com/nraboy/alexa-slick-dealer

43. Getting Help
• Alexa - developer.amazon.com/alexa
• Lambda - aws.amazon.com/lambda
• Twitter - @nraboy
• Blog - thepolyglotdeveloper.com

44. THANK YOU!