8 Serverless
This chapter covers
- Creating a function app and function from Visual Studio Code.
- Creating Logic Apps to integrate with other services.
- Introducing API Management and creating a public facing API.
- Understanding what serverless cloud services are good at.
Serverless is one of those terms that your manager loves and which has come to signify using and implementing cloud computing like the cool kids. There is a certain expectation of efficiency and cost saving if you start describing your solution as serverless. While that can certainly be true when approached correctly, let’s get one thing clear right from the start: there is no such thing as server-less. You can’t do any kind of computing without a server of some kind, whether that is your laptop, an on-premises datacentre, or cloud computing. What is referred to is that you are using a server that someone else manages. You and your project are serverless, but the computation you perform is not.
The best way to look at serverless is like chapter 6 on security in the sense that serverless is a spectrum, rather than a yes/no decision. As shown in Figure 8.1 you are somewhere between a server-based architecture and fully serverless. It is perfectly okay to have a mix of services relying on servers and some relying on serverless services. As always, use the right tool for the job.
Figure 8.1 The server to serverless spectrum.
