Azure Functions
Table of Contents
Overview
Azure Functions enables serverless computing on Microsoft Azure. Build event-driven applications with automatic scaling, flexible bindings to various Azure services, and integrated monitoring through Application Insights.
When to Use
- HTTP APIs and webhooks
- Message-driven processing (Service Bus, Event Hub)
- Scheduled jobs and CRON expressions
- File and blob processing
- Queue-based workflows
- Real-time data processing
- Microservices and backend logic
- Integration with Azure ecosystem services
Quick Start
Minimal working example:
bash# Install Azure Functions Core Tools curl https://aka.ms/install-artifacts-ubuntu.sh | bash # Login to Azure az login # Create resource group az group create --name myapp-rg --location eastus # Create storage account (required for Functions) az storage account create \ --name myappstore \ --location eastus \ --resource-group myapp-rg \ --sku Standard_LRS # Create Function App az functionapp create \ --resource-group myapp-rg \ --consumption-plan-location eastus \ --runtime node \ --runtime-version 18 \ --functions-version 4 \ --name myapp-function \ --storage-account myappstore // ... (see reference guides for full implementation)
Reference Guides
Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:
| Guide | Contents |
|---|---|
| Azure Function Creation with Azure CLI | Azure Function Creation with Azure CLI |
| Azure Function Implementation (Node.js) | Azure Function Implementation (Node.js) |
| Azure Functions with Terraform | Azure Functions with Terraform |
| Function Bindings Configuration | Function Bindings Configuration |
Best Practices
✅ DO
- Use managed identity for Azure services
- Store secrets in Key Vault
- Enable Application Insights
- Implement idempotent functions
- Use durable functions for long-running operations
- Handle exceptions and failures
- Monitor function execution
- Use bindings instead of SDK calls
❌ DON'T
- Store secrets in code or configuration
- Ignore Application Insights
- Create functions without error handling
- Use blocking operations
- Create long-running functions without Durable Functions
- Ignore monitoring and logging
