As the name implies, a single-page application consists of only one page. But unlike other applications, it does not load a new web page every time a user interacts with it. Instead, during user interactions, it leverages data from a web server to rewrite the relevant web page with new content. Building a single-page application or SPA using serverless architecture further enhances its functionality. Hence, many web development companies in Dallas today build SPAs using serverless architecture to improve their cost-efficiency, scalability, and performance.
Additionally, serverless SPAs also require relatively lower maintenance and are highly available. These benefits make serverless SPAs very popular for web development.
The Technology Behind Serverless Architecture
We must consider the respective technologies involved to understand how serverless architecture enhances SPA scalability and cost-efficiency. Serverless is a cloud-native app development and execution model. Here, all web development companies across the globe build and execute app codes without the need to manage servers or involve backend infrastructure. Effectively, they can put their focus on improving front-end app code and business logic.
Additionally, serverless SPAs are metered on demand using an event-driven model for execution. Hence, web developers never have to pay for idle capacity.
But “serverless” does not mean the complete absence of servers. Here, servers are provisioned on demand. Further, it also indicates that developers cannot see or interact with them in any way. The cloud provider handles all routine server management tasks like server infrastructure provisioning, scaling, and maintenance. Developers associated with professional web development companies package their codes into containers for their deployment. Once deployed, serverless SPAs simply respond to user demands and scale up and down automatically.
Taking A Technical Dive Into Single-Page Applications
In a client-server model, when a client or user sends a request to the server, he gets back a well-rendered, meaningful webpage in reply. Hence, every response from the server is a complete HTML document containing everything required to load a web page.
However, a single-page application alters this paradigm. Here, when the browser sends a request, the response received consists of an HTML document devoid of content. It is a bare, generic document that contains the required placeholder elements and links to specific JavaScript files. These JS files form the core of an SPA. They predominantly fetch content from the servers by sending in requests and dynamically updating the HTML content onto the web page. This ultimately creates a meaningful web page.
SPAs are, thus, quick to load and keep users engaged for longer. Consequently, both the user bounce rates and premature leaving get reduced. SPAs also offer greater stability, better user experience, improved speed, and website responsiveness. Hence, they are essential assets to leverage in web development.
Advantages Of SPAs Built Using The Serverless Architecture
Serverless and SPA both have attributes that make them ideal for pairing. While single-page applications help create highly responsive web apps, severless facilitates a manifold increase in web app scalability. Let us look at two essential advantages that web applications gain when built using serverless architecture and SPA framework.
Scalability in serverless SPA
Effortless web application scale-up is an important benefit of a serverless SPA. Generally, server-based architectures must be manually provisioned and configured to handle increasing workloads. However, serverless SPAs automatically scale up resources when faced with increasing incoming traffic. As a result, web development companies can ensure a seamless web app performance even during peak hours. Serverless SPAs can also scale down when there is less website traffic. This elastic scalability enhances user experiences. Along with this, it also saves businesses from making unnecessary investments for overprovisioning.
If a user function needs multiple runs, the cloud servers will start, run, and complete them as and when required, often by using containers. Hence, such web applications perform the same irrespective of whether they have to execute one function or multiple functionalities.
Alternatively, a traditional server-based application will be overwhelmed when faced with sudden massive traffic requests. This is because its performance is limited by the availability of space.
Cost-effectiveness of serverless SPA
Serverless SPAs work in the same way as a ‘pay-as-you-go’ phone plan. Here, web development companies have to pay only for what they use. Codes deployed by developers only run when serverless architecture based SPAs require backend functions. The codes also scale up and down automatically as and when required based on the web traffic. Hence, server provisioning in a serverless SPA is precise, real-time, and dynamic. For some services, the costs are broken down into 100-millisecond increments to make them precise and exact.
The traditional server-based architectures require web developers to project the server capacity required well in advance. A web development company in Austin, tx will then purchase the projected capacity. Since it is difficult to accurately project the required server capacity, web developers either exceed their projection or under-utilize the purchased server capacity. Both instances result in monetary losses, thereby making traditional serve-based web apps costly and ineffective.
The serverless architecture follows the pay-per-use pricing model. Here, organizations are billed based on the real-time resources used. Hence, there is no need to project server capacity. This makes a serverless SPA cost-effective. Hence, such SPAs are very popular with start-ups and SMEs with limited money to invest. Serverless SPAs also completely eliminate upfront investments in infrastructure and allocate resources more securely.
Other benefits also justify adopting the serverless architecture based SPA. These include eliminating the need for server management and increasing the ability for quick deployment and updates. Codes can also be executed from any location and at any time. This further reduces web app latency. Serverless architecture based SPA makes it possible to run web app functions on servers that are closer to the user’s physical location.
Conclusion
Technology is rapidly evolving. This continuous advancement makes embracing serverless architecture a strategic move imperative for improving user experience. Web development companies must also leverage serverless SPAs to integrate app scalability, improve cost-efficiency, and reduce time to market. This combination is ideal for businesses that seek to facilitate exponential business growth through operation optimization and reduced infrastructure costs. However, this combination has yet to be exploited to its full potential. In the near future, web developers will generate many more benefits through the extensive use of serverless architecture and SPA framework.