Amazon Lambda
A serverless compute service that runs code in response to events and automatically manages the underlying compute resources.
Description
Amazon Lambda is a core component of the AWS (Amazon Web Services) ecosystem, designed to enable developers to run code without the need to provision or manage servers. It allows you to execute backend code in response to various triggers, such as modifications to data in an Amazon S3 bucket or updates to a database in Amazon DynamoDB. Lambda is event-driven, meaning it can automatically scale up or down based on the demand, executing code only when needed and charging only for the compute time consumed. This makes it a cost-effective solution for running applications, as users only pay for what they use. Lambda supports multiple programming languages, including Python, Java, and Node.js, and integrates seamlessly with other AWS services, enhancing its capabilities. Use cases include real-time file processing, IoT backends, and data transformations, making it a versatile tool in modern cloud architecture.
Examples
- Processing uploaded images in an S3 bucket to create thumbnails automatically.
- Running a serverless REST API using AWS API Gateway and Lambda for handling HTTP requests.
Additional Information
- Lambda functions can be triggered by various AWS services, including S3, DynamoDB, Kinesis, and API Gateway.
- AWS Lambda has a limit of 15 minutes for the execution time of a single function, making it suitable for short-lived tasks.