Why is Serverless Architecture the Future of Modern Mobile App Development?

Serverless development architecture is one of the new strategies for both web and mobile app developers of the present era. Despite its name, it doesn’t mean that whatever data is in a mobile app doesn’t ever pass through a server. That would be difficult if not impossible to achieve. However, it does mean that the job of deployment and maintenance will not be your burden to bear.

These will be taken care of by what are known as cloud companies, like Google Cloud, Amazon web services or Microsoft azure. You will just have to select these tools. In this article, we will learn why the serverless environment is the most probable future for mobile application development.

What exactly is serverless architecture?

The software design pattern which uses a third-party vendor’s infrastructure in its development process can be termed serverless architecture. In this type of design pattern, deployment resource allocation, OS maintenance scaling etc. are the responsibility of the vendor who provides the infrastructure.

All the company which has decided to use this type of approach has to do is to install an API at their end. Both the usage and payment is event-driven, and the vendor provides tools for security, testing, monitoring and debugging processes. The development process is the only thing left for a company to worry about in this type of environment. 

Frameworks that create a serverless environment

This type of serverless application development is built on the following framework

The client application

This is the actual application developed by the client or the company. The development process is untouched by the vendors and is the sole responsibility of the client. 

Web server

A robust web server must be present for this type of architecture, and it must run all the necessary HTML, CSS code required for the client application.

Function as a service (FaaS)

Function as a service is regarded as the complete architecture itself in some discussions, but that is because it is the most important part of the architecture. It contains all the tools necessary for the developer to develop, deploy, run, and change the client application. These tools are all provided by the cloud company vendors, and one need not worry about the server-side logic of how these tools work for the actual application to function.

Security token service(STS)

An important part of the framework, the security token service is the part that generates tokens that then allow users to access the API of the serverless environment. Each token is unique and triggers a specific service

User authentication

Serverless environment is responsible for the quick and easy user authentication of every user after they sign up for any service of the client application.

database

As you have already understood, a serverless environment does not mean that there is no database or a server. All data is securely stored and accessed in a database for everyday activities.

Advantages of serverless architecture

Following are the many advantages of this kind of software design. 

Goal-oriented development

The client or the company in charge of making the actual application is devoid of any pressure that would otherwise be on them if they weren’t operating in a serverless environment. This allows them to focus more on the development process itself and hence better applications are formed.

Effortless management

The management of operations in a function as a service(FaaS) model is actually very easy. It also reduces the cost of operation for anyone who uses such an architecture as most of the burden falls on vendors who provide most of the tools. The need for continuous integration and delivery is eliminated using this method. Developers can also choose to write their code on the vendor console. This means there is zero need for administration in the serverless environment, which drastically reduces management effort.

Scalability

The scalability potential of serverless software design is tremendous. One can easily upgrade their software if they want to. It is built for this, and it happens quickly too. The chances of app crashes during such upgrades are minimal. Thus all your upgrades become easy. If you want to integrate a completely new feature in your software, that is possible too and takes less time than otherwise, it would have taken without a serverless environment.

Drawbacks

There are however few downsides to the serverless development strategy too. For one, when third party APIs have a problem with them, it becomes very hard for client applications to manage their application. The strategy can also cause complexity because if the function sizes are small, developers can end up with many functions in an application.

However, function sizes cannot be too large, as that would mean debugging, testing and things of that nature would become difficult. However, even with all the disadvantages, when it comes to mobile apps, serverless is increasingly becoming the preferred way to develop apps because such applications have had great successes on smartphones.

With the innovations in technology, the drawbacks are set to decrease, and app developers know this. The global leaders of tech being the creators of such serverless tools is also the reason why developers are optimistic.

Conclusion

As you can see, we have listed a number of potential reasons why the future of mobile application development will become serverless. The advantages of using this type of architecture far outweigh the negatives in the development process.

Nextbrain is one of the best companies for mobile app development in Toronto, Canada and we develop apps for both Android and iOS devices. We develop the application using various technologies like Swift, Flutter and others. We serve clients around the world and they keep choosing our company for their other projects because we provide reliable services and updates.

We also have in-house UX/UI designers who are skilled in designing the best user interface for all tour applications. We are also proficient in SaaS and web application development, so contact us if you are ever in need of such requirements.