Serverless development with Azure Functions enables you to run small pieces of code in the cloud without the hassle of managing physical servers or containers. This way, you can focus only on code by eliminating all the infrastructure considerations. You can choose your own favorite programming language for developing applications using Azure Functions, thus gaining the freedom to work efficiently.
Serverless architecture enables you to run code without the need to worry about managing infrastructure. Third party services handle your servers in serverless infrastructure. In addition, you can save time spent on operations and focus only on software development.
The payment model of serverless development enables you to pay only when the code runs. As a result, you can reduce development costs. In addition, serverless applications enable you to scale automatically based on your computing needs. For instance, you can scale automatically during rush hours and stop the extra resources when you don’t need them.
Microsoft Azure Functions is a serverless computing platform designed to simplify and accelerate application development. This platform provides an environment to execute and host Azure applications. In addition, Azure Functions integrates with other Azure tools like IoT Hub, Cosmos DB and more.
You can use different trigger functions for flexible application development. Trigger functions are triggered with message queues, HTTP requests, and timers. Azure Functions provide high-level security and reliability for your apps. This platform can scale easily when your app is experiencing high demand hours.
This tutorial walks you through the process of developing an Azure Functions serverless app with Python. The code is triggered with HTTP requests.
Your Azure Function is now ready. Visual Studio creates a lot of files in the project structure. You should see the files on your left-hand side.
import logging
import azure.functions as func
def main(req: func.HttpRequest) -> func.HttpResponse:
logging.info('Python HTTP trigger function processed a request.')
name = req.params.get('name')
if not name:
try:
req_body = req.get_json()
except ValueError:
pass
else:
name = req_body.get('name')
if name:
return func.HttpResponse(f"Hello {name}!")
else:
return func.HttpResponse(
"Pass a name on the query string or in the request body",
status_code=400
)
The purpose of the code
You can execute your Function on your local environment using the Azure Function Core Tools. Use the VS Code or the command line interface to start the Function app you can. Next steps walks you through the process of running your app with VS code.
curl http://localhost:7072/api/AzureFunctionTrigger?Name=YourName
The extension for Azure Functions enables you to deploy to Azure. The deployment steps are listed below.
The serverless app is now working on Azure. Use the Azure Portal to view your code and resources.
You can find a list of all associated resources in the Azure Portal. Here are the needed steps for testing your deployed app on Azure:
This tutorial covered the basics of serverless computing and Azure Functions, including:
Hopefully, you now have the required knowledge to develop your next serverless project.
Thank you for reading!
#python #azure