Overview | Notion

AWS Lambda Overview

What is AWS Lambda?

Serverless Functions: No servers to manage; you just provision your code, and the functions run.
Short Executions: Limited to a maximum runtime of 15 minutes.
On-Demand Execution: No billing when your functions are idle, making it a cost-effective option.
Automated Scaling: Lambda seamlessly scales the number of function instances to meet demand.

Benefits

Simple Pricing: Pay per request and compute time; generous free tier.
Seamless Integration: Tightly integrates with numerous AWS services.
Flexible Language Support: Node.js, Python, Java, C#, Go, Powershell, Ruby, and custom runtimes.
Easy Monitoring: Built-in integration with CloudWatch for effortless monitoring.

Language Support

Core Support
- Node.js
- Python
- Java (8 and 11 compatible)
- C# (.NET Core)
- Go
- Powershell
- Ruby
Custom Runtimes
- Enable additional languages (e.g., Rust) using the provided API.
Lambda Container Image
- Specialized container format for packaging Lambda functions; requires Lambda Runtime API compatibility.

Key Integrations

Service	Integration Example
API Gateway	Create REST APIs that trigger Lambda functions
Kinesis	Real-time data transformation
DynamoDB	Triggers for table events (item modifications, etc.)
S3	Trigger functions on file creation, updates, etc.
CloudFront	Lambda@Edge for edge-case logic execution
CloudWatch Events/EventBridge	React to infrastructure events for automation
CloudWatch Logs	Stream logs for processing and analysis
SNS	React to notifications from SNS topics
SQS	Process messages from SQS queues
Cognito	Respond to user events (login, signup, etc.)

Use Cases

Serverless Thumbnail Creation:
- S3 triggers Lambda on image upload
- Lambda generates and stores a thumbnail
- May add metadata to DynamoDB
Serverless CRON Jobs:
- CloudWatch Events/EventBridge trigger Lambda at specified intervals
- Ideal for periodic tasks