In my last article we discussed cloud computing, what it is and why it’s important. Serverless computing takes that concept one step further (You’ll never need to touch a server again, unless you want to… But you can’t really touch them, because they’re in the cloud).
How do you go one step further in the cloud?
When using the cloud you give up control of the physical server hardware to some other provider. In Serverless computing not only do you release control of the hardware that your application is running on, but also the software in exchange for not worrying about maintenance of said hardware and software, this is what I call a platform. Platforms reduce the flexibility you have in order to provide an easier user experience along with optional additional features that improve functionality.
Are there any serverless platforms out there?
Definitely (I wouldn’t be talking about serverless if there weren’t (; ), some examples of serverless platforms include AWS Lambda, Azure Functions and, Google Cloud Functions.
Which platform is the best?
Each of these platforms have their own specifications and limits and you should do some research on each to determine which you want to use. As a personal opinion I like AWS Lambda as it provides support for 5 different languages and various event sources that can trigger code execution and in addition new features are being released almost on a monthly schedule.
You mentioned “event sources”, what are those?
The platforms described above allow you to write code that executes in response to events that occur inside of the cloud provider account you are using (your code is not constantly running [one of those flexibility limitations I was talking about]). Event sources are the place (service or resource) that the events that execute your code can come from whether it is from a queue service or object storage service.
Great, I never really liked servers anyway, how do I get started?
To get started make your way to the documentation of one of the serverless platforms linked above and read through it to make sure that you understand some of the capabilities available to you. Once you’re familiar with the platform go ahead and write your first function. If your comfortable enough you can even write a whole application without ever touching a server (figuratively of course, because cloud things…). Frameworks like Serverless make serverless application development much easier by removing or simplifying the operational aspects of serverless application deployment.
What do you think about the serverless movement? Is it a good thing? Let me know in the comments below. Also, let me know what you would like me to cover in future posts
ODP out! P.S. I’m on a plane!