Chapter 2. Architectures and patterns

What are the use cases for serverless architectures, and what kinds of architectures and patterns are useful? We’re often asked about use cases as people learn about a serverless approach to the design of systems. We find that it’s helpful to look at how others have applied technology and what kinds of use cases, designs, and architectures they’ve produced. Our discussion will center on these use cases and sample architectures. This chapter will give you a solid understanding of where serverless architectures are a good fit and how to think about design of serverless systems.

2.1. Use cases

Serverless technologies and architectures can be used to build entire systems, create isolated components, or implement specific, granular tasks. The scope for use of serverless design is large, and one of its advantages is that it’s possible to use it for small and large tasks alike. We’ve designed serverless systems that power web and mobile applications for tens of thousands of users, and we’ve built simple systems to solve specific, minute problems. It’s worth remembering that serverless is not just about running code in a compute service such as Lambda. It’s also about using third-party services and APIs to cut down on the amount of work you must do.

2.1.1. Application back end

2.2. Architectures

2.3. Patterns

2.4. Summary