Azure Functions

Serverless compute service that runs event-triggered code without managing servers. Write functions in C#, Java, JavaScript, PowerShell, or Python, then let the platform handle scaling, deployment, and runtime resources based on demand.

Part of the Azure ecosystem, it integrates with blob storage, queues, Service Bus, Event Hubs, timers, and HTTP to build event-driven systems. Durable Functions extend the model with orchestration and long-running workflows. The runtime and tooling are open source, with language workers for Node.js, .NET, and others available on GitHub.

Key capabilities:

• Triggers and bindings connect functions to storage, queues, databases, and HTTP without boilerplate
• Hosting from consumption, pay-per-execution scaling to Premium or Dedicated plans for always-warm instances
• Custom handlers for languages such as Rust and Go
• Container support for custom runtimes and Kubernetes deployment
• Integration with Visual Studio, VS Code, Azure Monitor, and Application Insights

Engineers use it for processing file uploads from blob storage, running scheduled cleanup jobs, building scalable REST APIs with HTTP triggers, and reacting to database changes. Message-driven workloads such as queue processing, Event Hub ingestion, and AI inference pipelines are common. Durable Functions enable reliable multi-step workflows without external orchestration services.