Azure Functions provide great benefits from writing fewer code to cost-saving. But, what do Azure Functions do? Read on to know more about it and its advantages.
A few years ago, to develop an application, you needed to have a complex software infrastructure. Hence, app development was a costly, time-consuming, and complicated venture.
The development of software development technologies such as cloud computing allowed organizations to develop apps with simpler infrastructures. And, one of these technologies is Azure Functions.
This article will discuss what it is, where you can use it, and why you should employ it for your app development.
What is Azure Functions?
Picture this. After completing a specific e-commerce process, you always want to send an email or notification to your clients. To do this, you have to build an entire system for it. However, with Azure Functions, you don’t need any infrastructure. Just write your code and its designed action, and deploy it to the Azure cloud.
The scenario above is the perfect example of defining what Azure Functions is. To state it briefly, it is a serverless computing service based on the cloud. Functions enable event-triggered code to run without the need for infrastructure. In addition, these event-triggered code or scripts will not run continuously, which improves the scalability of the said code.
Therefore, Azure Functions is best to employ for parts of your applications that run as separate processes. These scripts are event-triggered and need to be scalable. Furthermore, you can code Functions using different programming languages such as C#, F#, JavaScript, Java, TypeScript, Python, and PowerShell.
Common Use Cases
Always keep in mind that Azure Functions is a serverless service. What this means is that Functions have specific uses. Moreover, you cannot replace your entire website with Functions.
Below are examples of when to use the Functions:
- Generating notifications and reminders
- Processing files
- Scheduling tasks and messaging
- Processing data and data streams
- Implementing background backup tasks
- Lightweight APIs
- Proof of Concepts and MVPs
- Backend calculations
Keeping these in mind, here are some examples of what Azure Functions cannot do:
- It is not a replacement for Web APIs. However, in some instances, they are excellent Web API extensions.
- Designed to execute a single or few things as fast as possible, it can’t perform multiple tasks.
- Since it is a compute-on-demand service, it is not best for intensive computing and long-running functions.
Therefore, the Functions’ primary design is to hasten application development processes. It enables serverless architecture to help you focus more on coding and not worry about infrastructure and other costs.
Advantages of Azure Functions
Functions are part of Microsoft Azure and, being a cloud service, it offers many benefits including:
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1. Integration with Other Azure Services
As part of Microsoft Azure, you can easily incorporate Functions with Azure Event Hubs, Notification Hubs, Service Bus, Event Grids, and more.
2. Supports Different Programming Languages
You will have the freedom to select the programming language to use. Functions support major languages such as Python, Java, JavaScript, C#, F#, PHP, and Node.js. In this way, you can use different programming models for activities like HTTP-based API building.
3. The interface is Intuitive and Browser-Based
Functions allow you to write code in an intuitive and browser-based interface. You can also utilize your favorite development tools for debugging and building. In addition, Azure Functions’ interface can easily respond to generated events from HTTP Requests, Azure Queues, Blob Storage, Timers, etc.
4. Implementing Code
As an event-driven application platform, you can implement code triggered by third-party services events.
5. Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CICD)
Through development tools, GitHub, Microsoft Visual Studio Team Services, etc., Functions can support CICD even if it is a serverless architecture.
During Azure Functions deployment, your code are in subplot first instead of the principal slot. Thus, once you deploy Azure Functions in the DevOps pipeline, it will:
- Perform Continuous Integration
- Run unit testings
- Configure Azure infrastructure
- Test Integrations
- Lastly, deploy Azure Functions App
6. Runtime Portability
Microsoft developed Functions to be portable. Thus, it allows you to build and run serverless applications anywhere, from your network to any cloud services.
7. Custom Features Implementation
Its runtime, UI, templates, and WebJobs SDK are all open source projects. This means you can quickly integrate custom features when using Azure Functions.
8. Pay-as-You-Use and Cost-Efficient
Being cost-efficient is very critical for any application development project. When you use Functions, you will only have to pay when running code. Hence, it will be more straightforward for you to manage your resources while developing your applications.
In addition, because it is a serverless application, there will be no need for infrastructure maintenance.
The benefits of utilizing Azure Functions in your application development are numerous. However, its main goal is to let you focus more on coding while minimizing the cost. Therefore, Functions will help you be more productive during app development at a very affordable price. It is best suited for order processing, image processing, running scheduled tasks, and file maintenance.
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Hire the Best Azure Developers
In essence, Azure Functions will empower your development team. It helps in both accelerating and simplifying the development of serverless applications. Aside from that, eliminating or reducing the need for infrastructure and maintenance will significantly lower your development costs.
It allows you to focus on developing and creating your code in an easy-to-use interface. In addition, you can deploy and debug them on any machine. Its ability to integrate with other tools easily and flexibility will boost your productivity.
Are you looking for developers who can help you implement Azure Functions? We at Full Scale are here to help you. Our developers are experts in deploying Azure Functions and Microsoft Azure as a whole. Furthermore, our programmers and other specialists are knowledgeable and trained with the latest technologies and development practices. Thus, we can ensure that you will only get the best and most high-quality services at an affordable price.
Contact us today and let us start boosting your application development!
