Making an application nowadays has become a relatively easy job as compared to a few years ago. With the advent of APIs and service models like BaaS – Backend as a Service and serverless computing, developers are able to code without the restrictions that were placed a few years ago efficiently.
Here is everything you need to know about the difference between Backend as a Service and Serverless.
Backend as a Service
Backend as a Service is more popularly known as BaaS. It is a cloud service model that developers can use to easily develop certain aspects of their application without having to code themselves. In technical terms, the developers ask BaaS to develop the backend of their application while they only develop the frontend. This saves time, and helps developers code more efficiently.
Example of BaaS
In order to understand BaaS easily, take the example of a director who has to direct a movie. The director is responsible for various things like managing camera crews, wardrobe and so much more in addition to managing the movie itself. Even though the job of the movie director is to only direct the movie, they have to manage all of these unnecessary things to ensure that the movie is a success.
A BaaS is like the hard-working assistant of that film director who handles all the unnecessary tasks while reporting back to the film director. The director can then spend most of his effort on developing the film so the movie has the best possible outcome. The developer (director) is able to make his application (movie) with ease, without having to worry about backend (camera crews, wardrobe, casting and so on).
Features of a BaaS:
Here are some of the features of Backend as a Service:
- Database management – BaaS provides the feature of easy database management so the developer does not have to learn to use various languages like SQL, NoSQL and so on.
- Cloud storage – A BaaS comes with support for cloud storage, and even hosts cloud storage easily to allow developers to focus on the frontend.
- User authentication – Security features like user authentication can be added to an application with ease.
- Push notifications – This is a very handy feature that enables and improves user retention and bounce back rate. Backend services have native support for push notifications.
- Easy hosting & updating – One of the major features of BaaS is the fact that it allows users to easily host their own servers or in case of BaaS like Firebase, provide Google as a host.
Difference between BaaS and Serverless
Here is a brief list of differences between BaaS and Serverless:
Working process
The provider of Backends as a Service provides the developer with whatever services they want without having to make the developer code anything for the backend. Serverless are more like a single set of functions that can perform one function at a time.
Code execution
The code execution process of serverless architecture is driven by certain events. A function can only work when a certain condition or event is met. Serverless functions can run on any machine as long as it has basic computing abilities.
BaaS, however, can run without any sort of event requirement. They require far more network resources to maintain. BaaS may or may not run on any computer and may have requirements depending on how many resources are being used.
Scalability
A Backend as a Service is not easy to scale unless the provider makes them easy to scale to do so. Because serverless are only a set of functions, they can be used in any program of any scale – no matter how many times the developer wants.
Final Thoughts
We hope that this small article on the difference between BaaS and Serverless was able to help you figure out which you should use.
