What is the difference between `Ref: logicalName` and `!Ref logicalName` in AWS Cloudformation templates in YAML?

Question

What is the difference between Ref: and !Ref in AWS Cloudformation templates in YAML?

According to AWS docs, Ref: logicalName is "syntax for the full function name" and !Ref logicalName is "syntax for the short form". Is there functionally a difference between the full function name and short form. Can I just use either or?

Answer 1

You can use either. It's just syntactic sugar.