Creating a Serverless Function with Go and AWS Lambda

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Prerequisites
  3. Setting up AWS Account
  4. Creating a Lambda Function
  5. Deploying the Function
  6. Testing the Function
  7. Conclusion

Introduction

In this tutorial, we will learn how to create a serverless function using Go and AWS Lambda. Serverless architecture allows developers to build and run applications without worrying about infrastructure management. AWS Lambda is a serverless compute service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that runs your code in response to events, automatically scaling based on the incoming request rate.

By the end of this tutorial, you will:

  • Understand the basics of serverless architecture and AWS Lambda
  • Know how to set up an AWS account
  • Create a Go function and deploy it using AWS Lambda
  • Test the deployed function

Let’s get started!

Prerequisites

To follow along with this tutorial, you will need the following:

  • Basic knowledge of Go programming language
  • An AWS account (you can create one for free at https://aws.amazon.com/)
  • Go installed on your local machine

Setting up AWS Account

Before we can create and deploy our serverless function, we need to set up an AWS account and configure it for use with AWS Lambda.

  1. Go to https://aws.amazon.com/ and click on “Create an AWS Account”.

  2. Follow the instructions to create a new AWS account. Make sure to provide accurate information and set a strong password.

  3. Once your account is set up, sign in to the AWS Management Console.

Creating a Lambda Function

Now that we have our AWS account set up, let’s create a Lambda function using Go.

  1. Open the AWS Management Console and navigate to the Lambda service.
  2. Click on “Create function” to start creating a new function.
  3. Choose the “Author from scratch” option.
  4. Give your function a name and select “Go” as the runtime.

  5. Under “Permissions”, choose an existing or create a new execution role for your function.

  6. Click on “Create function” to create the initial function configuration.

Deploying the Function

With our function created, it’s time to deploy the Go code to AWS Lambda.

  1. In the Function code section, you will see an inline code editor. Replace the existing code with your own Go code.
  2. Alternatively, you can create a ZIP file containing your Go code and upload it using the “Upload from” option in the “Function code” section.
  3. Once your code is uploaded, scroll down to the “Basic settings” section.

  4. Adjust the memory, timeout, and other settings according to your requirements.

  5. Scroll down further and click on “Save” to save the changes.

Testing the Function

Now that we have deployed our function, let’s test it to ensure everything is working as expected.

  1. Go to the “Test” tab in the Lambda function console.
  2. Click on the “Create test event” button.
  3. Enter a test event name and provide a sample event JSON payload.
  4. Click on “Create” to save the test event.

  5. Once the test event is created, click on “Test” to execute the function using the test event.

  6. Verify the function output and logs to ensure it behaves as expected.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully created a serverless function using Go and deployed it using AWS Lambda. In this tutorial, we learned the basics of serverless architecture, set up an AWS account, created a Lambda function using Go, deployed the function, and tested it.

Serverless architecture and AWS Lambda offer a scalable and cost-effective way to build and run applications. Go provides a powerful and efficient programming language for serverless functions. With this knowledge, you can start building your own serverless applications using Go and AWS Lambda.

Remember to clean up any resources you created during this tutorial to avoid unnecessary charges on your AWS account.

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