FaaS is a serverless backend service allowing developers to write modular pieces of code on the fly that can be executed in response to specific events.
What is Function-as-a-Service?
Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) is a serverless way to execute modular pieces of code on edge. FaaS lets developers write and update a piece of code on the fly, which can then be performed in response to an event, such as a user clicking on an element in a web application. This makes it easy to scale code and is a cost-efficient way to implement microservices.
What are microservices?
If a web application were a work of visual art, using microservice architecture would be like making the art out of a collection of mosaic tiles. The artist can easily add, replace, and repair one tile at a time. Monolithic architecture would be like painting the entire work on a single canvas.
This approach of building an application out of a set of modular components is known as microservice architecture. Dividing an application into microservices is appealing to developers because they can create and modify small pieces of code that can be easily implemented into their codebases. This contrasts with a monolithic architecture, where all the code is interwoven into one extensive system. With large monolithic systems, even minor changes to the application require a hefty deployment process. FaaS eliminates this deployment complexity.
Web developers can use serverless code like FaaS to write application code while the serverless provider takes care of server allocation and backend services.
What are the advantages of using FaaS?
Improved developer velocity
With FaaS, developers can spend more time writing application logic and less worrying about servers and deploys. This typically means a much faster development turnaround.
Built-in scalability
Since FaaS code is inherently scalable, developers don’t have to worry about creating high-traffic or heavy-use contingencies. The serverless provider will handle all of the scaling concerns.
Cost efficiency
Unlike traditional cloud providers, serverless FaaS providers do not charge their clients for idle computation time. Because of this, clients only pay for as much computation time as they use and do not need to waste money over-provisioning cloud resources.
What are the drawbacks of FaaS?
Less system control
Having a third party manage part of the infrastructure makes it tough to understand the whole system and adds debugging challenges.
More complexity is required for testing.
It can be challenging to incorporate FaaS code into a local testing environment, making thorough testing of an application a more intensive task.
How to get started with FaaS
Developers must create a relationship with a serverless provider to enable FaaS functionality for a web application. Since FaaS integration means some application code will be delivered from the edge, edge servers’ availability and geographical distribution are essential considerations. A user in Italy accessing a site that relies on FaaS edge code served from an overloaded data center in Brazil will encounter the kind of delay that leads to high bounce rates.
