Is serverless a way to deliver microservices?

If you look at the definition of microservices, you will find the concept of delivering an application as loosely coupled components that represent the implementation of a business capability. You can build something like that with a couple of functions, so yes, serverless is a way to deliver microservices.

Some specialists even consider serverless architecture an evolution of microservices, since the focus of serverless architecture is to deliver scalability in a safe environment, enabling the possibility of a set of functions to independently be developed, tested, and deployed, which brings a lot of flexibility to the software architecture. That is exactly the main philosophy of microservices.

Let us imagine, as an example, a microservice responsible for authenticating users. You may create specific functions for registering, logging, and resetting passwords. Considering that this set of functions can be created in a single serverless project, you have both the flexibility of creating separated functions and the possibility of defining the purpose of the microservice.

The serverless project will naturally support integration with databases, messaging queues, OpenAPI specifications, and other APIs, enabling the design patterns typically needed for a robust microservice architecture. It is also important to mention that keeping microservices isolated, small, and preferably reusable is a best practice worth following.

Now that you understand that you can write microservices using serverless approaches, let us understand how Microsoft Azure presents serverless in its platform.