Building Scalable Applications with NodeJs and Serverless Computing

Serverless computing represents the future of cloud-based development, for it offers impressive scalability with the pay-as-you-go pricing model. Add to this, cloud computing, which represents the central force of a modern interconnected world.

Combine these two technologies, and you are set to experience a new age in cloud development. Enhanced performance, cost efficiency, and higher scalability, which are now the apex advantages, will be common merits of this combo.

In the words of Adrian Cockcroft, VP of Cloud Architecture at Amazon Web Services (AWS), “Cloud native computing is pay-as-you-go, emphasizing self-service. You’re not going to have to invest in a data center, and guess how much capacity you are going to need next year. Through it, you can get very high utilization.”

I will recommend you watch this Keynote speech by Adrian Cockcroft for a better understanding.

Keynote: Cloud Native at AWS – Adrian Cockcroft, Amazon Web Services

With this understanding, let’s discuss more about the future of cloud development and how NodeJs is the best technology to choose for harnessing its benefits.

Signs that Define the Rise of Serverless Computing

Serverless computing is transforming the cloud development ecosystem, rapidly facilitating a shift from the existing traditional server management system. Since its inception, the adoption of the serverless architecture has grown considerably.

Source: https://www.reportsanddata.com/report-detail/serverless-architecture-market

The higher adoption rate of the serverless architecture is due to its wide range of applications and capability to reduce data processing costs. Here are a few other reasons I think are created to the rise of serverless technology adoption;

• Lower Operational Overheads

  Traditional cloud management systems have provisioning, configuration, and management costs for servers. With cloud providers taking care of the servers, this reduces the burden, freeing up developers and enabling them to concentrate on building robust applications. Ultimately, with this architecture, you won’t have to worry about scaling the server based on the traffic volume.
  

  Source: https://www.mongodb.com/blog/post/understanding-costs-serverless-architecture-save-money

• Faster Development Cycle

  With serverless, you can streamline the app development lifecycle by leveraging the event-driven approach, which is also seen in NodeJs structuring. This architecture means easy deployment of complex server setup and configuration. Developers using this architecture use the pay-as-you-go billing model, which effectively eliminates the need to pre-provision servers.

• Better Scalability and Higher Work Agility

  Serverless platforms will automatically scale the required resources according to the traffic volume and requests. As a result, this technology can handle large traffic volumes and surges without affecting performance.

  Leveraging this elasticity, developers can build responsive and adaptable applications that can conform smoothly to the changing demands.

• A Predetermined Mindset of Using Cloud Solutions

  Another reason for the rise of serverless technology, at least from what I have observed, is the community’s growing attachment to cloud technologies. Cloud-native technologies leverage the benefits of cloud with an emphasis on microservices architecture and containerization.

  What’s even better is that the serverless system complements this approach as it can seamlessly integrate with containerized microservices and CI/CD pipelines.

Every reason I can quote on the rise of serverless architecture points to the fact that this technology is an integral part of cloud computing. Adony Cervantes, another prominent expert in this field, says that,

“The ideal world for the development community is to have a single platform where they can code and release without the need to worry about the activities, applications, or workloads and their embedded maintenance to launch new applications. Serverless has the promise of providing these frameworks to developers.”

As the technology evolves, we will experience higher scales of app modernization driven by native cloud services and new serverless capabilities.

Recognizing this potential of serverless technology, major cloud service providers are regularly updating their serverless platforms.

• At Mobmaxime, we have used AWS Lambda, a pioneer in this category, and have harnessed its comprehensiveness to build serverless applications of all shapes and sizes.
• Microsoft’s Azure has serverless capabilities while seamlessly integrating with additional Azure services. So, developers using the Azure ecosystem at present will find using its serverless tools easy.
• Then we have Google Cloud Functions (GCP), which uses Google’s robust infrastructure and offers smart features like regional execution and help build latency-sensitive applications.

Before I move on to the next section on how NodeJS is the future of cloud development, I want to share one more important aspect of serverless. Everyone says that serverless saves time and cost, but how?

Well, in most cases, this operational model reduces a company’s dependence on dedicated staff for tasks like patching, upgrades, server management, system administration, etc.

The time they save from here can be refocused on delivering new algorithms and user experiences set to create higher business value.

Why is Nodejs an Ideal Choice for Serverless Development?

Nodejs is an open-source, cross-platform technology used in the form of a runtime environment to build server programs. It’s a backend technology, which means it can be used to build fast and scalable solutions.

Event-Driven Architecture and Non-Blocking I/O

NodeJs allow for efficient handling of concurrent requests coming from scalable applications. Due to this, it creates a simple and effective system for serverless computing while harnessing properties like;

• Concurrency
• Faster Response Times
• Efficient Resource Utilization
• Easier Integration with other Serverless Tools

NodeJs event-driven architecture and non-blocking I/O perfectly align with serverless architecture. This means when triggered, the serverless function will handle the execution without blocking the event loop. As a result, you end up with a highly responsive and scalable application.

Resting on the shoulders of these two properties, a NodeJs development agency can deliver the following benefits when working with serverless computing;

• Effective Scalability: With serverless, you can automate resource scalability according to the application’s demand. This retrofits applications with capabilities to handle sudden traffic spikes.
• Faster Development Cycle: The familiarity with JavaScript syntax and its extensive NodeJs package ecosystem (NPM). As a result, this reduces the development time as developers can use their existing JavaScript skills and available libraries to build serverless functions.
• Cost-Efficiency: Businesses only have to pay for the resources they use, and when a function is executed, they save money by not paying for unused resources.
• Effective Flexibility: Even though with serverless development, we can choose a programming language that best suits their needs, NodeJs qualifies as one. It’s a lightweight and flexible runtime technology that can be used for a wide range of functions and applications.
• Simplified Deployment: With serverless frameworks, the tools you use can easily manage infrastructure provisioning and scaling. This means developers will get additional time to write clean and functional code. Ultimately, this leads to faster development and deployment.

The Ever-Evolving NodeJs Serverless Ecosystem

The NodeJs community has been quick to recognize serverless potential. As a result, several frameworks and libraries that will make serverless development easier, including;

• AWS Serverless Framework: Amazon’s official tool, it provides a robust and comprehensive toolkit for building, deploying, and managing serverless applications. However, these apps must be written in NodeJs on AWS Lambda.
• Serverless Framework: An open-source framework, this provides a developer-friendly work approach to deploy serverless applications on multiple cloud providers.
• Claudia.Js: An impressive framework we use at Mobmaxime to simplify the deployment process for NodeJs serverless applications when built on AWS. Through this, we get a clean and concise syntax for defining and deploying serverless functions.

How NodeJs Represent the Future of Cloud Development?

Everything I have discussed above certifies the capabilities of NodeJs and its compatibility with the serverless development system. Now, I will talk about how this is the best framework for the future of cloud development and how a top NodeJs development company sees this as an ideal solution.

• The Champion of Microservices Architecture

  The future of cloud development rests in the execution of the microservices architecture. This means that future applications will have smaller and independent services that will magically come together to deliver the intended performance.

  And this is being implemented as we speak. NodeJs excels in this domain due to its lightweight and modular design, making the technology ideal for building independent microservices.

• Full-Stack Advantage

  With NodeJs and its frameworks, like NestJs and Total.js, developers can implement a full-stack development system, and we have tried it. Mobmaxime Node.Js experts can build a full-scale application using a single programming language.

  Doing so means there’s less context switching and fostering a unified development exercise. And this will prove even more effective for small development teams.

• Leverage the Supremacy of Serverless Development

  We have already discussed the natural capability of NodeJs to build serverless solutions. Going forward, this technology will play an even bigger role in augmenting cloud technology.

  Using its event-driven and asynchronous nature, NodeJs has everything required to upscale serverless development spearheaded by cloud computing. However, to realize this, companies must work with the best providers of NodeJs web app development services.

• Continuous Innovation with NodeJs

  Behind every technology’s growth, there’s a community of experts, enthusiasts, and visionaries. These are the people who take risks, find new or better ways of using the same technology, and invest in new ways.

  Similarly, NodeJs has a renowned and dynamic community that contributes to the framework’s development. NodeJs-compatible frameworks like NextJs and NuxtJs are bridging the gap between client and server.

  Such developments ensure that NodeJs not only stay relevant but rapidly evolve with the changing business needs and cloud development.

Challenges and Considerations for Serverless Computing

As efficient as serverless computing is, it’s not free from challenges. Here are a few challenges we have encountered at Mobmaxime, along with the methods we used to overcome these challenges.

• Difficulty in Debugging

  Checking serverless applications for errors and bugs is difficult compared to checking applications made with traditional methods. Serverless applications offer limited visibility for server environments and asynchronous execution, which can complicate the debugging process and make it time-consuming.

  To overcome this, we did two things;

  • Use in-built serverless app debugging tools.
  • Leverage techniques like logging and exception handling

  The tools and techniques ease the debugging process and make it as efficient and productive.

• Vendor Lock-In

  When businesses rely heavily on a single vendor for cloud services, it can lead to vendor lock-in. At some point, you might find yourself dependent on the vendor as your app’s performance, security, etc., will change according to the changes made by the vendor.

  To overcome this,

  • Choose serverless frameworks from different vendors.
  • Adopt a hybrid development approach
  • Use multiple cloud service providers according to your needs.

The first thing to overcome any challenge is acknowledging that there’s a problem you are facing. Because knowing a problem and its impact helps find a bespoke solution.

To Sum It Up

NodeJs is recognized as one of the technologies that will spearhead the digital transformation of the future. Given its event-driven structure and capability to build a solid foundation for developing microservices, it can help build and deliver highly useful, future-agnostic, and scalable applications.

Make sure you work with the top NodeJs development company to realize the technology’s full potential and identify its impact on the future of cloud development. NodeJs has everything it needs to become the backbone of the as-a-service system, enabling NodeJs developers to innovate and meet the sector’s dynamic demands.

To hire a NodeJs development company, choose Mobmaxime as we are an apex development firm focusing on using this technology to build innovative solutions. As fantastic as this technology is, you will need an equally amazing development company.