Serverless Computing

Serverless computing does not means no servers were involved. Instead, it refers to a cloud computing model where developers can build and run applications without having to manage the underlying infrastructure. The key aspect is that developers don’t need to explicitly provision or manage servers; the cloud provider takes care of these operational tasks.

One of the characteristics of Serverless Computing is that it is Event-Driven. For events such as HTTP requests, changes in data storage, scheduled tasks, or other events that the platform supports is part of the events that triggers the serverless functions. Another characteristics of this is the ‘No-Server Management’. Developers do not need to manage servers or allocate resources. The cloud provider takes care of server provisioning, scaling, and maintenance, allowing developers to focus solely on code.

Pay-Per-Use Pricing, Statelessness, Short-Lived Executions and Event Sources are another few characteristics for Serverless Computing. Pay-Per-Use Pricing is quite straightforward where users are billed based on the actual number of function executions and the resources consumed during each execution. Statelessness meaning they don’t retain information between executions. Any necessary state is typically managed externally, such as in a database or storage service.

Short-Lived Executions the functions are designed to perform only specific tasks and have shorter execution time and last but not least, the Event Sources that can triggers the serverless functions includes HTTP requests, database changes, file uploads, or custom events. This flexibility enables developers to build reactive and event-driven applications.

Below is the list of current Popular serverless computing platforms:-

• AWS Lambda
• Azure Functions
• Google Cloud Functions
• IBM Cloud Functions

Serverless computing is like a helpful assistant that does a lot of work for you, making things faster and easier. It’s good because it saves money, adjusts itself based on how much work needs to be done, and reduces the effort you have to put in. However, it might not be the best fit for every job, especially if your task needs certain types of tools or takes a long time. So, when picking how to do your computer work, it’s important for developers to think about what the job needs and if serverless computing is the right fit.