Hello fellow developer! If you‘ve heard the buzz around serverless architectures but still have some doubts, allow me to elaborate on the what, why and how of going serverless.
Over the next few minutes, I‘ll walk you through the top serverless platforms, real-world benefits, adoption trends and help simplify decision making. Let‘s get started!
What is Serverless Computing?
Before going further, serverless does not mean there are no servers. It simply means that all infrastructure provisioning and management is handled by the cloud provider.
As a developer, you just need to upload your code, set some configurations and the platform handles everything else – instant scalability, high availability, security patching etc.
Key benefits of serverless:
- No server management – focus only on application code
- Auto-scaling – handle traffic spikes easily
- Sub-second metering – fine-grained usage based pricing
- Faster time to market– reduced config, infra overhead
- Highly available – no worries on outages
This makes serverless ideal for event-driven applications like data pipelines, IoT backends, APIs, web apps etc. It is also gaining adoption for machine learning workloads.
Let‘s now cover the major serverless platforms:
Overview of Top 11 Serverless Platforms
| Platform | Languages | Use Cases | Key Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Lambda | NodeJS, Python, Java, C# | Data processing, APIs | Most mature ecosystem, rich integrations |
| Cloudflare Workers | JavaScript | Real-time apps, APIs | Edge locations, low latency |
| AWS Fargate | Docker containers | Microservices, batch processing | No cluster management overhead |
| Azure functions | JavaScript, C#, F# Python | Backends, automation | Azure integration, multi-lang support |
| Google Cloud Functions | JS, Python | Data analysis, event handling | Integrates with Google Cloud services |
| IBM Cloud Functions | NodeJS, Python, Swift | Conversational AI | Leverages OpenWhisk, IBM Watson integrations |
| Alibaba Function Compute | JS, Python, PHP, Java | Application backends | Targeted at Chinese market |
| StackPath | JavaScript | Content optimization, security | Edge computing, Chrome V8 runtime |
| Deno Deploy | TypeScript | Web apps, APIs | No config deployment of Deno apps |
| DigitalOcean App Platform | JS, PHP, Python, Go | Web apps, microservices | Deploy apps from Git to managed Kubernetes |
| Vercel | JavaScript | Frontend web, static sites | Optimized for NextJS, best CX |
This overview provides a quick comparison to shortlist platforms matching your tech stack and workload needs. Let‘s deep dive into the capabilities, use cases and developer experience for top ones:
AWS Lambda – The Swiss Army Knife
With exponential growth over the last few years, AWS Lambda is the undisputed leader in serverless space. It offers unmatched breadth and depth of capabilities.
Scalability:
- Automatically scales up to handle over 1000 concurrent executions
- No cold starts due to provisioned concurrency
Languages and integrations:
- Expanding language support for NodeJS, Python, Java, C#
- Easy integrations with over 200 AWS service APIs
Performance:
- Low latency connections keep functions responsive
- Supports long running tasks up to 15 minutes
Reliability:
- High availability across multiple AZs
- Near zero downtime even under load
This sample arcitecture demonstrates how Lambda functions connect to other AWS services:
With almost 50% market share in serverless space, no wonder top enterprises rely on Lambda and associated AWS services for mission-critical workloads.
Cloudflare Workers – Supercharge Your Frontend
Cloudflare Workers provides a lightweight yet performant edge computing platform to deploy JavaScript code across 200+ cities globally.
It enables creating reactive, real-time applications while integrating natively with Cloudflare‘s edge network and security tools like WAF, load balancing etc.
Key differentiators:
- Deploy code at edge locations closer to users
- Take actions on HTTP requests using service worker API
- Improve site performance with caching and streaming
- Protect against threats with security tools
Here is an example Cloudflare architecture:
Cloudflare handles over 25 million HTTP requests per second across its network – this demonstrates the sheer scale and reliability provided.
Plus with a generous developer plan starting at $5/month, Workers make it easy to experiment.
Azure Functions – The Multi-Lingual Powerhouse
Boasting first-class integrations into Azure ecosystem, Azure Functions is gaining rapid adoption among enterprises.
It supports an ever expanding range of languages beyond just JavaScript:
- C#, F#, Python, PowerShell, Java, Typescript etc.
- Easy to leverage existing skills
Functions benefit from close ties with Azure services:
- Triggers support for Event Hubs, storage queues/blobs
- Tight integration with Azure Monitor, App Insights
- Easily secure functions using Azure Active Directory
For large enterprises, ability to connect functions with on-prem systems using Azure Stack Hub and hybrid connectivity is invaluable.
Azure Functions also offer enterprise-grade reliability and security compliance out of the box. This sample architecture demonstrates real-world implementations:
With rapid enhancements, Azure Functions promises to be the go-to cloud for companies committing to Azure infrastructure.
Deciding Between Providers
While serverless offerings share lots of commonality around auto-scaling and abstracting away infrastructure, they differ significantly in languages, tooling, ecosystem integrations, specific compliance etc.
| Parameter | AWS Lambda | Cloudflare Workers | Azure Functions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Languages | NodeJS, Python, Java, C# | JavaScript only | C#, F#, Python, PowerShell, Java etc. |
| Learning curve | Intermediate | Easy | Intermediate |
| Pricing | Pay per GB-sec used | Free and monthly tiers | Consumption meters |
| Tooling | Console, CLI | Web editor | GUI portal, CLI |
| Scaling capabilities | 1000s of concurrent executions | Billions of requests per day | Auto-scales beautifully |
Key guidelines for selection:
- For polyglot environments – Evaluate Azure Functions and AWS Lambda
- Frontend apps and edge delivery – Excellent fit for Cloudflare Workers
- Integrations with other cloud services – Align serverless platform with overall cloud provider
-Specialized workloads like ML – Look at Google Cloud and IBM Cloud Functions - Global reach especially China – Consider Alibaba Cloud
Now that we have clarified the serverless landscape, let‘s look at recent trends.
Surging Adoption of Serverless Globally
A recent survey by RedMonk sheds light on rising enterprise adoption with over 28% of respondents using serverless compared to just 13% in 2019.
The use cases are still dominated by cloud-native workloads but even traditional applications like mobile app backends, databases, analytics pipelines see uptick.
In terms of industry verticals, adoption skews towards technology, telecom, financial services and retail/e-commerce companies.
Among developer communities, JavaScript rules the roost given explosion of Node.js usage over the last decade. But developers are also leveraging serverless platforms to use languages like Python, Java, Go and .NET at scale.
As engineering leaders strive to improve developer productivity and accelerate time to market, serverless computing goes mainstream across startups and enterprises alike.
Key Takeaways
We covered a lot of ground on the what, why and how of serverless computing platforms. Let‘s recap the key insights:
💡Serverless abstracts infrastructure management so you can focus on code
💡Auto-scaling, usage based pricing make it cost efficient
💡Near zero overhead to deploy code accelerates workflows
💡Event driven apps perfectly fit serverless architectures
💡AWS Lambda leads adoption but many alternatives exist
I hope this tour of serverless offering clarified capabilities and helped identify workloads which can benefit from it. Do share any other specific questions or feedback!
