It is necessary to keep in mind that servers are still responsible for running the code in order to have a proper understanding of what serverless computing is. The term “serverless” was introduced due to the fact that the developer is not required to perform any of the tasks related to the provisioning or management of the underlying infrastructure.
Azure Functions – Functions as a Service, FaaS
Azure Functions is a serverless solution and provides “compute on-demand”
.NET & .NET Core,TypeScript, Java, Go or Rust, Node.js, Python, PowerShell, custom handler ( HTTP-supporting languages) , etc.
Put the logic of your system into readily available blocks of code. These code blocks are called “functions”.
Azure Functions is able to satisfy the demand by allocating as many resources and function instances as are required, but only for the duration that they are required. As the number of requests decreases, all unused resources and application instances are immediately terminated.
The function works with several cloud services to deliver strong software solutions.
Scenarios
| If you want to… | then… |
|---|---|
| Build a web API | Implement an endpoint for your web applications using the HTTP trigger |
| Process file uploads | Run code when a file is uploaded or changed in blob storage |
| Build a serverless workflow | Create an event-driven workflow from a series of functions using durable functions |
| Respond to database changes | Run custom logic when a document is created or updated in Azure Cosmos DB |
| Run scheduled tasks | Execute code on pre-defined timed intervals |
| Create reliable message queue systems | Process message queues using Queue Storage, Service Bus, or Event Hubs |
| Analyze IoT data streams | Collect and process data from IoT devices |
| Process data in real-time | Use Functions and SignalR to respond to data in the moment |
Azure Logic Apps – Platform as a service
Run automated workflows
Automated workflows can be built and executed with minimal coding using Azure Logic Apps, a cloud platform. You can easily construct a workflow that controls and coordinates your apps, data, services, and systems by utilizing the visual designer and picking from prebuilt processes.
As a general rule, you won’t have to do any coding. However, if you find yourself in a position where some coding is necessary, you can easily whip up some code snippets in Azure Functions and include them in your workflow. The Inline Code action allows you to build executable code snippets for use in your process. Azure Event Grid allows you to track, reroute, and publish events from Azure services, customized apps, and other solutions that your workflow needs to interface with.
Azure Event Grid
Serverless event broker / Reactive programming
Event-driven design communicates system state changes through events.
- Serverless application architectures: Trigger a serverless function that analyzes files when added to a blob storage container.
- Ops Automation: simplify policy enforcement and notify the automation when occurs
- Application integration: connects your app with other Azure Services
