What is one of the differences between a microservice and a serverless function?
Correct Answer: A
microservice is larger and can do more than a function. A function is a relatively small bit of code that performs only one action in response to an event.
Many microservices can run on several servers, and different instances of a specific microservice can run on several servers.
In many cases, microservices can be decomposed into a number of smaller stateless functions. The difference between microservices and functions is not simply the size. Functions are stateless, and they require no knowledge about or configuration of the underlying server-hence, the term serverless.
Microservices are best suited for long-running, complex applications that have significant resource and management requirements. You can migrate an existing monolithic application to microservices, which makes it easier to modularly develop features for the application and deploy it in the cloud. Microservices are also a good choice for building e-commerce sites, as they can retain information throughout a transaction and meet the needs of a 24/7 customer base.
On the other hand, serverless functions only execute when needed. Once the execution is over, the computing instance that runs the code decommissions itself. Serverless aligns with applications that are event driven, especially when the events are sporadic and the event processing is not resource-intensive. Serverless is a good choice when developers need to deploy fast and there are minimal application scaling concerns. For example, a good use of serverless computing is a scheduled task that needs to perform some data aggregation and will execute for just a few seconds.
Many microservices can run on several servers, and different instances of a specific microservice can run on several servers.
In many cases, microservices can be decomposed into a number of smaller stateless functions. The difference between microservices and functions is not simply the size. Functions are stateless, and they require no knowledge about or configuration of the underlying server-hence, the term serverless.
Microservices are best suited for long-running, complex applications that have significant resource and management requirements. You can migrate an existing monolithic application to microservices, which makes it easier to modularly develop features for the application and deploy it in the cloud. Microservices are also a good choice for building e-commerce sites, as they can retain information throughout a transaction and meet the needs of a 24/7 customer base.
On the other hand, serverless functions only execute when needed. Once the execution is over, the computing instance that runs the code decommissions itself. Serverless aligns with applications that are event driven, especially when the events are sporadic and the event processing is not resource-intensive. Serverless is a good choice when developers need to deploy fast and there are minimal application scaling concerns. For example, a good use of serverless computing is a scheduled task that needs to perform some data aggregation and will execute for just a few seconds.
References:
https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/serverless/glossary/serverless-microservice/
https://developer.oracle.com/java/fn-project-introduction.html
https://searchapparchitecture.techtarget.com/answer/When-should-I-choose-between-serverless-and-microservices