Azure Functions

Table of Contents

• Overview
• When to Use
• Quick Start
• Reference Guides
• Best Practices

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:

# 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:

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