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How to get started with AWS Lambda Functions in 2023 for DevOps Engineers 1

How to get started with AWS Lambda Functions in 2023 for DevOps Engineers

How to get started with AWS Lambda Functions in 2023 for DevOps Engineers

 

Amazon Web Services is one of the biggest names in the cloud computing domain, and it commands a 10.79% share of the web hosting industry, and it has strong potential to grow further. AWS’ strategy to target small geographic regions called the “availability zones,” no upfront costs, pay-for-what-you-use pricing plans, consistent performance and high dependability are a few factors that make it incredibly popular.

How to get started with AWS Lambda Functions in 2023 for DevOps Engineers 2

(Credits: Datanyze)

As an AWS DevOps engineer, you can definitely benefit from its 200+ applications that cover everything under the cloud ranging from networking to IoT and from security to enterprise solutions. However, performing all operational and administrative activities on your own can be daunting, and that’s where AWS Lambda comes to your rescue.

It will help you with tasks like:

  • applying security patches, 
  • deploying your code, 
  • monitoring fleet health, 
  • running a web service front end, 
  • capacity provisioning, 
  • monitoring and logging your code

In this article, we will give you an overview of how to get started with AWS Lambda, its benefits, and its limitations.  It will help nurture your understanding of AWS as a DevOps engineer foraying into the cloud service provider’s ecosystem in 2023.

Let’s begin!

What is AWS Lambda?

AWS Lambda is a serverless computing service by AWS that allows running event-driven codes for setting up and managing servers without the hassle of managing the resources. Here’s a visual representation of the Lambda function in terms of a container:

How to get started with AWS Lambda Functions in 2023 for DevOps Engineers 3

(Credits: SST)

Since AWS offers a “pay as you go model,” you only need to pay for the time in which the function code sent to AWS is executed. AWS Lambda helps cut down on the complexity of your IT  infrastructure as well as the costs incurred while increasing scalability and velocity. It supports multiple languages like C#, Java, Python, Go, Node.js, and PowerShell for stateless functions in the background tasks, i.e., once your code is executed, all data is disposed of instantly. Thus, AWS Lambda helps you focus on your core business and product logic.

Prerequisites to learning Lambda

Before you lay your hands on Lambda, it is necessary that fulfill a few prerequisites as mentioned below:

  • You must have hands-on knowledge of Linux OS, its commands, and concepts like file permissions, processes, and threads.
  • Must be able to configure EC2 instances through Linux
  • Understand HTTP as an IPC, concurrency, notifications, queues, messaging and other distributed computing concepts.
  • Know cloud and IP networking concepts
  • Grip over IAM (AWS Identity and Access Management), AWS KMS (Key Management Service), PKI, and access control principles
  • Proficiency in DynamoDB, Amazon S3, Amazon SQS, and Amazon API Gateway

Also,

Example of creating a Lambda function and best practices

Here’s an example of creating a JS Lambda function using an AWS SDK:

const createFunction = async (funcName, roleArn) => {

  const client = createClientForDefaultRegion(LambdaClient);

  const code = await zip(`${dirname}../functions/${funcName}`);

  const command = new CreateFunctionCommand({

    Code: { ZipFile: code },

    FunctionName: funcName,

    Role: roleArn,

    Architectures: [Architecture.arm64],

    Handler: “index.handler”, // Required when sending a .zip file

    PackageType: PackageType.Zip, // Required when sending a .zip file

    Runtime: Runtime.nodejs16x, // Required when sending a .zip file

  });

  return client.send(command);

};

Upon practicing, you will come across best practices like separating the Lambda handler from your core logic:

exports.myHandler = function(event, context, callback) {

var foo = event.foo;

var bar = event.bar;

var result = MyLambdaFunction (foo, bar);

callback(null, result);

}

function MyLambdaFunction (foo, bar) {

// MyLambdaFunction logic here

}

Find more examples of creating Lambda functions here.

Lambda Function Best Practices

In this section, we will go through Lambda function best practices that will help you avoid commonly faced errors. You may also set up database connections and SDK clients outside of the function handler and locally cache static assets in the /tmp directory to save time and costs. Also, you must use the keep-alive directive for maintaining persistent connections since Lambda eliminates any idle resources. Other Lambda best practices include managing the complexity of dependencies of the deployment package of your function, minimizing deployment package size for obvious reasons,  When it comes to passing operational parameters to your Lambda function, make sure to use environment variables. Use idempotent code, save yourself from using recursive code. Put your dependency .jar files in a separate /lib directory to reduce the time required to unpack deployment packages in Java.Also, keep yourself updated with the help of full-stack development blogs.

AWS Lambda Limitations

Some of the crucial limitations that you must keep in mind when using Lambda functions are: The deployment package size for the Lambda function is capped at 50MB (zipped) while the function timeout is limited to 900 seconds, i.e., 15 minutes with 3 seconds as the default value. Lambda allows only 1,000 concurrent function executions. If approached without proper planning, you may inflate your budgets heavily when using AWS Lambda. You cannot leverage any third-party software for running your code since AWS Lambda operates solely on AWS infrastructure.

Summing Up

AWS DevOps continues to be in demand, but with the economic slowdown pressurizing businesses, it is important to maximize your productivity, and that’s where Lambda kicks in. We hope that this mini-guide helps build the foundation of Lambda functions for you as a new AWS DevOps engineer.

Join Talent500 today to find the best offers in AWS DevOps and keep yourself abreast with the latest developments.

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Neel Vithlani

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