Serverless Applications: Why, When, and How?

TL;DR

This paper provides an extensive analysis of 89 serverless applications to understand why companies adopt serverless, when it is suitable, and how it is implemented, addressing gaps in existing knowledge.

Contribution

It presents the most comprehensive study to date on serverless applications, analyzing diverse sources to clarify motivations, use cases, and implementation practices.

Findings

Identifies key reasons for adopting serverless computing.

Highlights common scenarios where serverless is well suited.

Documents prevalent implementation patterns and practices.

Abstract

Serverless computing shows good promise for efficiency and ease-of-use. Yet, there are only a few, scattered and sometimes conflicting reports on questions such as 'Why do so many companies adopt serverless?', 'When are serverless applications well suited?', and 'How are serverless applications currently implemented?' To address these questions, we analyze 89 serverless applications from open-source projects, industrial sources, academic literature, and scientific computing - the most extensive study to date.