Introduction

AWS Lambda Guide for Beginners

Are you looking to learn and use AWS Lambda? There are several benefits of AWS Lambda for cloud computing. This is your go-to guide for getting started.

Introduced in November 2014, AWS Lambda is a serverless cloud computing service offered by Amazon Web Services to simplify the process of building applications. It allows you to run code without hosting or managing servers. Users pay only for the amount of computing time which means they do not have to pay for the time when the code is not running.

In short, AWS Lambda is a full-fledged service that does all the server and infrastructure management for you. The aim was to automatically run codes in response to events.

It is user-friendly as it allows you to use any third-party library to perform the tasks required to get started and is cost-effective. With the help of AWS Lambda, you can avoid spending tons of time and effort managing servers. There are no complex languages involved in it, no tools that you need to learn, and no frameworks that you must spend hours trying to understand.

You can run a backend code in response to events. After you are done with the upload, the lambda service handles all the activities like capacity, scaling, and administration of the infrastructure required to run the code.

What is AWS Lambda Function?

Lambda functions are computation services offered by AWS that let users upload and run their code that has been written in the form of a zip file without preparing the infrastructure.

You can even choose to design the code in the AWS management console and make upload it to Lambda.

There are also pre-built function samples of Lambda function available for common use cases like image conversion and file compression. Besides this, you can also access other AWS support services to perform tasks.

For a better understanding, below is the Anatomy of a Lambda function:

After the upload of the lambda function, the next step is to choose the event source that you wish to monitor. You can use Amazon Event Sources like S3 bucket and DynamoDB. This allows the Lambda function to automate responses. The rest is handled by the software as it begins to use that lambda function and generate a response when an event occurs.

With AWS lambda, any event can trigger the lambda function and instantly generate a response. You can instantly create a lambda function, run it and get logs and metrics.

API gateway lambda – For using Lambda the API Gateway must be used. It is used to consolidate microservices that have one single access point.

Serverless Lambda – Serverless lambda has been widely adopted for its special benefits. This serverless computing service provided by Amazon Web Services enables users to function without having to manage any servers.

Lambda Instance and Lambda Package

As the name suggests, the data captured by the server lasts only for a specific instance. When the tasks are completed, the data gets automatically discarded. However, these instances are not automatic.

One has to update the set of tasks manually in the form of a lambda package and give AWS instructions to run it in response to an event. The code you write is used to create a lambda function. This lambda function is packed (commonly known as lambda package) and uploaded to the AWS S3 bucket. This is to send an instruction to AWS that you want this specific package to be used when an event occurs.

It is essential to remember that backups of executions and runs are not available. AWS Lambda isn’t for long-run processes. Ironically, this stateless nature of Lambda contributes to the easy building of serverless applications.

Quick takeaway – The maximum size of a Lambda package is 50 MB and 250 MB in a compressed and uncompressed format respectively.

What Kind of Responses Can AWS Lambda Generate?

- Response to image uploads

- Response to clicks on a website

- Response to custom HTTP requests

- Response to in-app activity

- Response to sensor outputs

- A Lambda instance starts and responds just within milliseconds of an event.

Technical Specifications of Lambda

Here are the technical specifications to take into consideration to build a serverless application using AWS Lambda,

Each lambda function is executed in a container aka sandbox. These containers can be reused and the size of every container is 64-bit.

Execution duration – 900 seconds to 15 minutes

Lambda package size – Compressed file – 50 MB

Lambda package size - Uncompressed file – 250 MB

Memory – 128 MB – 3008 MB (64 MB increments)

Ephemeral disk space – 512 MB

Supported languages – Java 8, Java 10, Node.js, Ruby, Python, c#, PowerShell Core 6.0

Aws lambda containers - AWS lambda is modernizing deployments by supporting container deployment using Lambda service.

Aws serverless services - The AWS serverless computing feature has made things easy for users by offering them the infrastructure and server space needed to build and run applications.

AWS Lambda Pricing

AWS Lambda's cost is reasonable for the benefits it offers. It is cost-effective. You’re charged only for the time your code runs which is measured in increments of one hundred milliseconds. The billing is done based on the time the function starts execution until the termination.

If you have an AWS account, you are eligible to use the AWS lambda executions and make the most of the AWS free tier. It lasts 12 months and offers new and existing users over 1 million requests. Besides this, it includes 400,000 GB seconds of function run time and memory per month.

Concluding Thoughts

With the ease of use and wide range of benefits AWS lambda offers, it has made building applications and managing them easy.

With the addition of custom-run support features, AWS lambda gained more popularity among developers as it could then be run in the programming language of their choice. You can track performance as this offers real-time metrics and logs to Amazon cloud watch. All you need to do is just write the code and upload it. To find AWS lambda tutorials and documentation on how to get started building serverless applications, visit Amazon Web Services Lambda

If you are looking to enhance your cloud computing skills or enhance your career in cloud computing, get certified or take up AWS training. Getting certified is no grueling task. All you need to do is choose the cloud computing course that suits you the best, take up the certification training, and get certified.

We offer training for high-paying AWS certifications like AWS Solution Architect, AWS Developer Associate and AWS SysOps in three modes of study - Online training, Live-Online training and Classroom training. If interested, you can chat with us or drop in your query at Click Here.