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Going Serverless – Front-End Meets AWS Lambda

November 12, 2018

Serverless is a way to run backend code without managing servers. Instead of maintaining a backend service, you write small functions that are deployed to the cloud and run on demand.

This approach works great for front-end developers who need to:

  • Send form data
  • Store emails
  • Call third-party APIs
  • Run small tasks

What Is Serverless?

You write a function and deploy it to a provider like:

  • AWS Lambda
  • Netlify Functions
  • Vercel Functions

The function runs only when it’s called. You pay only for usage. There’s no always-on server.

Example: Form Submission with AWS Lambda

Let’s say we want to send a contact form.

1. The Lambda Function

Save this in submitForm.js:

exports.handler = async (event) => {
  const { name, email, message } = JSON.parse(event.body);

  // Do something with the data (e.g., send email, store in DB)
  console.log(name, email, message);

  return {
    statusCode: 200,
    body: JSON.stringify({ success: true }),
  };
};

2. Deploy with AWS CLI

zip function.zip submitForm.js

aws lambda create-function --function-name submitForm   --zip-file fileb://function.zip --handler submitForm.handler   --runtime nodejs12.x --role YOUR_IAM_ROLE_ARN

3. Call from Front-End

fetch('https://your-api-endpoint/submitForm', {
  method: 'POST',
  body: JSON.stringify({
    name: 'Luiz',
    email: 'luiz@example.com',
    message: 'Hello!',
  }),
})
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data));

Benefits of Serverless for Front-End Devs

  • Easy to add backend logic without full server setup
  • Scales automatically
  • Cheap for low-traffic or personal projects
  • Works well with static sites and JAMstack

Serverless lets you stay in the frontend but still build powerful full-stack features. It’s a practical way to extend what your app can do with minimal setup.

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