The document discusses the implementation and best practices of Azure Functions, emphasizing its serverless architecture that allows developers to focus on business logic rather than infrastructure concerns. It covers essential topics such as getting started, design principles, deployment, and cost considerations for Azure Functions. The document also highlights the advantages of using durable functions for orchestration and the importance of continuous integration and monitoring through application insights.

1. Azure Functions In The Real
World: Lessons Learned & Best
Practices
SharePoint Fest Seattle 2018
By: Vincent Biret

2. Passionate about technologies, development and community
Vincent Biret
@baywet
bit.ly/vince365
Microsoft Office Dev MVP
Azure and Office 365 developer @ 2toLead

3. Mostly for devs, but interesting for Ops at well as Deciders
Who’s this session for?

4. Agenda
•Demo: the Feedback solution
•Serverless? Azure functions?
•Getting started
•Design principles for functions
•Deploying
•Troubleshooting
•Pricing
•Conclusion

5. Ready?

6. The
Feedback
Solution

7. Functionality
•Collects a feedback (positive of negative)
•Stores it in a database (for later reporting)
•Sends a text message to the manager
•Sends an email to customer statisfaction
service
•Executes another steps (which fails)

8. The feedback solution in action
Demo

9. Although our solution seems complex, it doesn’t require a lot of code and is lightweight
How it’s built
API
(httpTrigger)
Twilio (SMS)
MS Graph
:(
Durable
Function
REST Request No SQL
CosmosDB
Application Insights
(telemetry)

10. Azure
Functions
Serverless?

11. A decade ago, a lot of time was spent on physical considerations to build solutions
Before cloud
How often should
I patch my
servers?
How can I increase server
utilization?
How I deploy new code to my
server?
Which packages
should
be on my server?
It takes how long to provision a new vm?

12. When IaaS came out, the next burden for applications became the logical infrastructure
IaaS
How often should
I patch my
servers?
How can I increase server
utilization?
How I deploy new code to my
server?
Which packages
should
be on my server?
It takes how long to provision a new vm?

13. PaaS solved some of the complexity by making infrastructure transparent
PaaS
How can I increase service
utilization?
How I deploy new code to my
service?
Which packages
should
be on my service?

14. Serverless, a better version of PaaS, aims to let you focus on the business logic and
consumption by encapsulating other considerations
Serverless
How I deploy new code to my
service?

15. Improving the « pay for what you use » and the elasticity principles, it also provides a
total abstraction of servers
Serverless definition

16. Enable your team to deliver solutions faster, in a more structured way moving the focus
on the business logic
Benefits

17. Microsoft’s answer to the serverless movement
Introducing: Azure Functions

18. 10 languages supported in Azure Functions and more to come
Languages

19. Dozens of bindings/triggers available, no more need to build the boiler plate code!
Connectors
MS Graph

20. The more control you want, the lower in the stack, the more simplicity the higher
How to chose?
WebJob-App
Service
Cloud Service
VM
On prem
s
i
m
p
l
i
c
i
t
y
c
o
n
t
r
o
l

21. Functions are built on services that have been part of Azure for years and are reliable
Function’s « stack »
Azure App Service
Azure Network &
DNS
Azure Web Jobs
Azure Storage
Azure Load Balancer &
Auto-scale
OS
Azure Functions
Azure Queues
Azure Datacenter (servers, power, cooling, security…)
YOUR CODE

22. Functions are being redesigned to overcome some important limitations
V1 and V2
• V1
• GA
• Production: C#, JS, F#
• Experimental: Python, PHP, TS, Batch,
Bash, PowerShell
• 16 Official connectors
• .Net Standard running on .NET
Framework
• V2
• Preview
• Experimental: C#, JS, F#, Java
• Better decoupling (removes a lot of
limitations)
• Extensions to install
• 17 Official Connectors
• Inc Microsoft Graph
• .NET Core

23. Custom API Body
Demo

24. Getting started

25. Browser editor, VS2017 + Azure SDK or VSCode + Azure Functions CLI

26. From zero to productions in 7 steps! Microsoft’s answer to serverless
Azure functions
• Pick a language
• Pick a trigger
• Add some inputs/outputs
• Write the business logic code
• (test/deploy)
• Scale your service
• Ship to production!!!
• (and monitor)

27. Functions v2 is highly abstracted from any dependency and relies on a plu’n’play model
Adding bindings (v2)
• Register Extension
• Nuget/npm/…
• Portal (when using a template)
• Azure functions core sdk
• Nuget: Look for Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Extensions.*
• (except for service bus)
• Add your binding to the function

28. Starting a new project, adding required extensions, starting the implementation
Demo

29. Design principles
for functions

30. It’s always better to build modular pieces than monolithic solutions
(regular) Functions problem
• Solutions built in modules are often better:
• More control
• Separation of concern
• Easier to maintain
• Reusability
• ….
• Orchestrating multiple (regular) Azure Functions can be hard

31. Durable Functions makes splitting and composing Functions much easier
Durable Functions
• Composition of Functions
• Makes orchestration much simpler
• Backed by Azure Queues, Load balancer…
• Client: starts an orchestration instance, trigger logic
• Orchestrator: orchestrates the activities, control logic
• Activity: part of the sequence, business logic

32. The Notification durable function
Demo

33. Continuous Integration/
Continuous deployment

34. CI is a key in keeping a frictionless and high quality development flow.
Options for Continuous Integration
• Kudu build system
• Visual Studio Team Services (or TFS)
• Jenkins, CircleCI, AppVeyor…

35. CD is crucial to saving time, avoiding errors, keeping tabs on builds…
Options for Continuous Deployment
• Kudu build system
• Visual Studio Team Services (or TFS)
• Jenkins, CircleCI, AppVeyor…

36. Comparison Functions v1/v2
• V1 Functions can be deployed like an Azure Web App
• V2 Functions have to be deployed like ASP.NET core project
• Tooling changes a bit

37. Avoid to store configuration in files from a security and an agility standpoint
Holding configuration
• File based local.settings.json (when debugging)
• Azure Web App Settings
• Can be set via ARM templates and/or command line
• Azure Key Vault (for secret)

38. VSTS CI CD for the project
Demo

39. Troubleshooting
and monitoring

40. You should ALWAYS enable application insights and log often, it saves lives!
Application telemetry
• Functions have a default logging infrastructure
• That logging infrastructure can be plugged to Application insights
• Logging infrastructure outputs to
• Console output
• Dashboard storage
• Azure Web App logging (streaming…)
• System logging

41. Troubleshooting with application insights
Demo

42. Pricing/Cost

43. Azure Functions are usually really cheap unless you do something wrong.
Consumption plans
• Azure App Service Plan
• (pay for your plan and instances, A1, DSv2, B2….)
• « Pay as you go » Plan
• 1 000 000 requests and 400 000 GB/s free each month
• GB/s = memory consumed * time used
• Eg: 128MB * 3s = 0,384 GB/s

44. Azure functions are really cheap, however you can still make important savings.
Penny-pinching
• Under heavy and « constent » workload it’s most of the time cheaper
to go with App Service Plan.
• Don’t hesitate to move workloads to cheaper regions if latency is not
an issue
• Don’t forget you still pay for storage dashboard!
• App Service plans:
• Combine plans if possible
• Use auto-scaling
• Multiple small functions always cheaper than a big one!

45. Conclusion

46. Functions allow developers to focus on what matters and be even more productive.
Conclusion
•Serverless dev allows us to focus on the business
logic: the true value
•Functions are “plug-n-play” and extensible
•Durable Functions help us “split” the workload,
making it easier
•CI/CD saves us even more time
•We can keep everything in check with telemetry
•All of that for a fraction of the cost

47. Other sessions
• Bob German
• AZR103 - Mastering Azure Functions
• DEV203 - Building Web Services for SharePoint and Teams
• Adis Jugo
• AZR303 - Developing event receiver and timer jobs in
SharePoint Online
• (me)
• AZR302 - The Microsoft Graph and SharePoint Framework
under steroids with Azure functions

48. Please fill out evals!
AZR203

49. Bit.ly/vince365 @baywet slideshare.net/VincentBIRET
Thanks!/Questions?
Vincent Biret
Office 365 and Azure
Developer
@baywet
Bit.ly/vince365