How to Use a Serverless Architecture for Backend Development

The ever-changing world of software development continually seeks innovative solutions that are efficient, scalable, and cost-effective. Serverless architecture has emerged as a notable trend in recent years, capturing the attention of developers and organizations looking to optimize their backend development practices.

This article aims to shed light on the advantages and disadvantages of employing serverless architecture for backend development, providing a thorough analysis of its core strengths and potential limitations.

What is Serverless Architecture?

Serverless architecture is a modern method for creating and deploying applications that eliminates the need for developers to manage the underlying infrastructure, such as servers or containers.

This environment focuses on code development, while cloud service providers manage other infrastructure’s provisioning, maintenance, and scaling. This innovative approach offers increased adaptability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, especially for applications with variable workloads.

Prominent serverless platforms include AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions, Microsoft Azure Functions, and IBM Cloud Functions. These platforms offer a range of services and integrations to facilitate serverless applications, such as databases, messaging systems, and authentication services.

Pros of Using Serverless Architecture for Backend Development

Adopting serverless architecture in backend development presents a range of valuable benefits for both developers and organizations.

1. Cost-Effectiveness

The cost-effectiveness of serverless architecture stands out as a major advantage in backend development, allowing companies to cut operational costs while delivering high-quality applications.

By adopting a pay-as-you-go billing model, companies only pay for the computing resources they use, which helps cut costs associated with idle time and pre-allocated servers. In addition, the serverless framework shifts the responsibility of infrastructure maintenance and management to the cloud service providers, resulting in decreased operational expenses.

This cost-effective approach enables businesses to allocate their resources better, emphasizing innovation and the enhancement of applications to address user requirements effectively.

2. Scalability and Flexibility

The prominent advantages of serverless architecture in backend development include its scalability and adaptability, enabling applications to adjust to fluctuating workloads and efficiently cater to shifting user needs. These benefits result in highly efficient, agile, and robust applications that elevate user experiences and satisfaction.

3. Reduced Operational Burden

By adopting serverless architecture, development teams experience a significant reduction in operational demands, as the responsibility for managing infrastructure is transferred to cloud service providers.

This enables developers to concentrate on crafting application code, refining features, and providing value to users. Additionally, serverless platforms frequently incorporate built-in tools for monitoring, logging, and security.

4. Faster Time to Market

Serverless architecture significantly contributes to a faster time to market, a vital benefit in the competitive world of backend development. Developers can concentrate on coding and refining applications by eliminating the need for server setup and maintenance.

With serverless platforms handling infrastructure management, teams can focus on feature development, testing, and optimization, resulting in quicker iteration and deployment cycles.

Cons of Using Serverless Architecture for Backend Development

While serverless architecture offers many benefits for backend development, it also comes with its own challenges. In this section, we’ll take a closer look at the drawbacks of adopting serverless architecture.

1. Testing and Debugging can be Difficult

One notable drawback of using serverless architecture for backend development is the increased difficulty in testing and debugging. The reliance on cloud infrastructure and the distinct nature of serverless functions make it challenging to replicate the exact conditions for local testing and debugging.

2. Not Built for Long-Running Processes

A significant constraint of serverless architecture in backend development is its incompatibility with long-running processes. Designed for short-lived tasks, serverless functions often face maximum execution time limits imposed by providers, making it challenging to handle tasks like data processing or complex calculations that require extended processing times.

3. Vendor Lock-In Risk

Another disadvantage of serverless architecture for backend development is the potential risk of vendor lock-in, as organizations often depend on a specific provider’s tools, services, and APIs.

This reliance can limit flexibility, reduce control over infrastructure, and create challenges in adapting to changes or maintaining application performance. To counteract vendor lock-in risks, developers can explore strategies such as using open-source tools or adopting a multi-cloud approach.

4. Security and Performance Impact

When adopting serverless architecture for backend development, it’s essential to be aware of potential security and performance implications.

The increased complexity of distributed systems can create a larger attack surface and make security management more challenging while relying on third-party providers might reduce control over security measures.

How to Use Back4app for Serverless Backend Development – A Step-by-Step Guide

Let’s explore how to build a backend for a mobile app using Back4app’s serverless architecture:

1. Sign up at Back4app and Create a New App

For the signup at Back4app, go to the following URL link. The app offers multiple options here to sign up on the Back4app platform. 

In this example, the Google option is selected.

Signup has been done successfully.

Click on the “NEW APP” button to create a new app at the Back4App. You will see 2 options here; select the relevant one according to your needs. 

We will select the “Backend as a Service,” as we are working on backend integration for an app.

2. App Name and Select Database Provider

Use the suitable name for your app and select the relevant database. If your application is using a relational database, then select PostgreSQL. Otherwise, if the application uses a non-relational database, select the NoSQL option for better development.

Back4app is finalizing the processes and creating an app for us.

The “CMS” app has been created successfully.

3. Create a Class in the Database and Add Columns

Now create a class in the database provided by Back4app. This class represents the table of the database that we normally call a model or entity. Click on the “Create a class” tab shown below.

Enter the class name according to your needs, select the class type, and choose the authentication access, either public or protected. Finally, click on the “Create class & add columns” button to add columns.

Now enter the name of the column and select the appropriate data type. Make this column a required field with a switch according to your need and set the desired default value.

You can add multiple columns according to the logic of your model. The class has been created, and columns have been added, as shown below.

4. Add Data Rows in the Class

There are 2 ways to add data to the “Products” class.

a) Add Row Manually

b) Import File

Here, we select the “Add Row” option, enter the product data, and press the “Add” button.

Data has been inserted into the “Products” class.

5. Grant Access and Create the REST Endpoint

Click on the protected tab to grant access to the “Products” class.

Check mark the “Read” option and saveCLP. By doing this, the “Products” class data can now only be accessed by the Registered users in the “User” class.

Now create an endpoint of the ‘Product’ class so that users registered in the ‘CMS’ app can access it by calling the REST API. Firstly, add a few users into the “User” class of the CMS app.

To create an endpoint, click on the REST tab under the console option in the “API” menu.

Select the request type and name of the API endpoint with the username that we created in the “User” class. This API will bring the results of all the products created in the “Products” class.

Click on the “Send Query” button to bring the results of the above API to the Back4App.

6. Test Backend API with Postman

For testing the “classes/Products” endpoint with an external tool like Postman, we need the URL and API integration keys. To get this data, click the “Export to cURL” button. It will show a popup with sensitive data.

Now open the Postman tool and write the relevant data from that popup into the URL and Header of the API request.

Click on the “Send” button and check the results. It will fetch all the products from Back4app into the Postman response.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the use of serverless architecture in backend development presents both pros and cons. It offers flexibility, scalability, and cost savings and allows developers to concentrate on coding instead of managing infrastructure. 

However, it may also result in cold start issues, increased latency, and limited control over the infrastructure. The decision to use serverless architecture for a project will depend on the specific project needs and the trade-offs the development team is willing to make.

As the technology continues to grow and mature, it is expected to become more widely adopted by organizations seeking to build backend systems that are scalable, efficient, and cost-effective.

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