Node

I possess seven years of experience in developing groundbreaking solutions for clients. My programming skills continue to improve as I develop my passion for emerging technologies. I am familiar with working within a cloud environment and have the ability to translate technical requirements into elegant code solutions. My main focus is Nodejs and Emberjs. My experience as a Team Leader allowed me to lead and manage a team that worked closely with Product Owners on several international projects.

Robert Harężlak

I am an agile Team Leader, Project Manager, and testing advocate supporting other developers. Having optimization and scalability in mind, I have led software teams for over 11 years in the end-to-end project development lifecycle, e.g., architecture design, code, and documentation review. I specialize in creating eHealthcare solutions that meet HIPPA requirements. 

Szymon Kieloch

[TOC]

Many skilled web developers use Node.js to boost their back-end development while still using the same tried-and-true language – JavaScript. Big enterprises also recognize Node as the perfect language for building dynamic websites. This allows them to utilize JavaScript not only on the front-end but also on the back-end.

No matter if you’re currently looking for the best language for your project or just want to find out more about companies using Node.js, after reading this article you will feel inspired. Let’s talk about Node!

## What is Node.js?

Node.js is an open-source JavaScript runtime environment that executes JavaScript code outside of a browser. It was built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine with scalability in mind. It is perfect for lightweight and fast real-time web applications.
So what is so interesting about Node.js that attracts more and more companies? Well, it’s amazing for creating collaboration tools, chats, social media applications and many more.
What is more, according to Stackoverflow, Node.js is among the most popular technologies.

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/a.storyblok.com/f/86602/1192x656/799ebec48e/stackoverflow-node.png)

## What is Node.js best suitable for?

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/870x565/3b6e2edb59/what-is-node-js-best-suitable-for.jpg)

### Real-time web applications

Real-Time Web Application Development is not the same as mobile application development. The company or brand must develop a cross-platform hybrid application with limited functionality. It used a real-time web application to create the massive social platforms Twitter and Facebook. It used a real-time web application.

### Streaming applications

Application streaming is a model for on-demand software delivery that takes advantage of the fact that most applications only require a small portion of their total program code to run. Like progressive downloads in video or audio, application streaming is entirely transparent for the end-user. The server sends the client just enough information to get it started, and the remainder is streamed to the client in the background while the end-user is working. Application streaming employs the Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) and is frequently used in tandem with desktop virtualization.

### Messaging apps

We all have private conversations that we want to keep just that way! Whether it's an embarrassing anecdote, office gossip, or opening up about your feelings, the last thing you want is for someone to view your messages or have them used to display your adverts. Unless you use an encrypted messaging app, you're leaving everything exposed.

### Chat programs

Any company's long-term success depends on its ability to provide excellent customer service. Customers aren't synonymous with sales. They're also a fantastic opportunity for people to find out more about your services or products. When it comes to your website, delivering excellent customer service strengthens your relationship with your clients and aids in the expansion of your customer base. One of the difficulties customers have when shopping online is being cut off from someone who can answer their queries accurately and quickly. Businesses can avoid this issue by adopting live chat software to provide an engaging experience for customers.

### Social media apps

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/870x565/b30fabcc5d/social-media-apps.jpg)

Social media app culture has reached new heights in the era that we have officially entered. The list of social media applications includes a profusion of names that users like, ranging from becoming the most popular communication platform to fixing the issue of information sharing. In 2022, new social media platforms will evolve and disrupt the existing method of adding and texting relationships. In 2022, the most significant social media applications will focus on improving the user experience to make these apps a safe and private platform for networking for various purposes.

### Virtual emulators

Virtual machines use CPU self-virtualization to the extent that it exists by providing the actual hardware with a virtualized interface. Instead of delegating some tasks to a hypervisor in charge of the virtual container, emulators simulate hardware without relying on the CPU's ability to run code directly.

### Multiplayer games

The majority of us enjoy excellent multiplayer games. The best mobile multiplayer games come in various genres and genuinely demonstrate the platform's potential. Multiplayer racing games like Mario Kart Tour and Asphalt 9: Legends demonstrate that mobile offers a wide range of racers. Multiplayer shooters like PUBG Mobile and Fortnite demonstrate that iOS and Android can provide the same intense experiences as PC.

### Collaboration tools

Online collaboration tools are online apps, software programs, and platforms that enable organizations and their employees to expedite the creative process and collaborate more effectively and efficiently. Managers and staff can use team collaboration technologies to assign tasks, track progress, report on outcomes, and improve workflows and communication internally and externally. Project management applications, remote conferencing platforms, digital asset management systems, web-based tracking tools, and messaging apps are all popular business communication tools.

### Application programming interface (API)

Businesses can make their data and functionality available to third-party developers, commercial partners, and internal departments through an application programming interface or API. A documented interface allows services and products to communicate and leverage one another's data and functionality. Developers aren't required to understand how an API works; they use the interface to communicate with other products and services. API usage has skyrocketed in the last decade, and many of today's most popular web applications would be impossible to create without them.

## Benefits of using Node.js

Before we start talking about the companies using Node as their primary back-end technology, let’s discuss some of the advantages they recognized in the language.

### Faster time-to-market

For entrepreneurs, time is money. They must work tirelessly during the first few months to iterate, test, deploy, and deliver. Node.js is especially useful for shortening the time-to-market cycle.

The first is that lightweight technology can significantly shorten application development time while providing the same functionality. With Node, you can swiftly get from concept to product. Second, simple deployments allow you to receive immediate feedback from the production environment.

### It's easy to learn

The learning curve for Node.js is not steep. Coding in Node.js is relatively simple once you've mastered the fundamentals of JavaScript and Object-Oriented Programming. It's enough to get started. The most challenging aspects are remembering the client-server model and keeping up with the Node's asynchronous flow. On GitHub, you'll find many interactive courses, tutorials, and examples that can make learning a breeze.

### Scalability

One of Node's most important advantages for startups that plan to expand over time is its scalability. Scalability is built into the foundation of Node.js. App-based entrepreneurs use it to build light, fast systems with excellent real-time responses that can be scaled up later and quickly add new modules to existing ones. Load balancing and the ability to manage many concurrent connections are two factors that contribute to a node's scalability. In addition, Node applications can scale both vertically and horizontally.

### MVP development

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/870x523/4c6fb55f55/mvp-development.jpg)

Before you depart, you should get ready. Node.js enables the rapid creation of an MVP, or minimum viable product, which contains only enough features to allow the product to enter the market and satisfy the initial customers. The MVP stage is critical in the development of a full-fledged application. Due to limited resources and timescales, it is necessary to swiftly validate the marketability of the product's idea with the least amount of effort, investment, and resources, as well as to ensure that the product is favorably received before investing additional money in development.

### Battle-tested

Don't be concerned about Node.js's relative inexperience. Many companies using Node.js for their products have skyrocketed, with industry titans such as PayPal, Netflix, and eBay jumping on board. Without a doubt, Node.js is a mature and well-tested tool that will not be neglected or abandoned anytime soon.

### Simple and effective

Before launching a product, entrepreneurs wear multiple hats and confront numerous hurdles. It's no surprise that people want to make their lives simpler. When they use Node.js, they like how easy it is to share a single language on the server and client sides and how they don't have to go back and forth between them. Node.js applications require fewer files and code than those created in alternative front-end and back-end languages. You may also reuse and share code between the front-end and back-end sections of your program, which will help you save time during development. Everything is in one place: one code, one deployment.

### Large community

A thriving community entails a lot of assistance and feedback. A thriving Node.js community can help you avoid spinning the wheel again, as they have produced numerous valuable tools and instruments that speed up development. The world's largest and fastest-growing software registry is NPM, Node's package ecosystem. It has a lot of libraries and reusable templates that you can use to add more value to your work with less effort and time. There is a module for practically anything you can think of in the NPM ecosystem.

## Big companies using Node.js

Do you want to know which of the popular names make use of Node’s concurrency, speed and intensive data exchange opportunities? Read on.

<ReadMore> Read also: [Top trends in Node.js to Watch in 2021](https://selleo.com/blog/top-trends-in-node-js-to-watch-in-2021) </ReadMore>

### NASA

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/640x535/32a127c4bd/nasa_logo-svg.jpg)

A company that doesn’t have to be introduced. In this case, Node.js usage is of greater importance than in other cases. The [NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/) application is focused on keeping astronauts safe during their space expeditions. After an accident in which one of the astronauts nearly lost his life, NASA faced a challenge of moving all data of EVA spacesuits to a single cloud database. They adapted Node.js which helped to decrease the number of procedural steps from 28 to 7!

*“The system he is creating uses a microservices architecture with separate APIs and applications built in Node.js to move data related to the EVA spacesuits from three separate legacy databases to a cloud database. Now users can query that one database for everything, reducing the time to access a comprehensive set of data by about 300 percent.”* \~ Node.js Foundation [case study](https://foundation.nodejs.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2017/09/Node_CaseStudy_Nasa_FNL.pdf)

**Benefits:**

* single database
* the access timelines reduced by 300%
* less procedural steps

<Baner name={software-development} />

### Netflix

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/563x201/8dc55f69ad/netflix-brand-logo.jpg)

With over 130 million subscribers from all around the world, this biggest streaming media and VOD provider switched their backend from Java to Node.js. They needed a scalable solution that would be able to handle both 1 billion hours of weekly video streaming and all the requests. Leveraging a fast and lightweight platform like Node.js allowed [Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/) to reduce startup time by 70%.

**Benefits:**

* shorter built time
* lighter, faster and more modular application

### PayPal

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/640x320/a73de18586/paypal-784404__480.jpeg)

In 2013, [PayPal](https://www.paypal.com/pl/home) decided to migrate from Java to Node.js. This resulted in 200ms faster page response time and double the number of requests that can be handled per second. Since the development teams were once divided into those who wrote browser-specific code and those who write app layer-specific code, Node.js was an ideal solution. It brought the much-needed cohesiveness and resolved issues at both ends.

*"Node.js helps us solve this by enabling both the browser and server applications to be written in JavaScript. It unifies our engineering specialties into one team which allows us to understand and react to our users’ needs at any level in the technology stack."* \~ Jeff Harrell, Senior Director of Payments Products and Engineering at PayPal

**Benefits:**

* the average response time reduced by 35%
* the serving of pages increased to 200ms
* 30% less code and 40% reduction in lines

### Uber

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/640x222/b9cff24744/2560px-uber_logo_2018-svg.jpg)

[Uber](https://www.uber.com/pl/pl/) is the world’s famous platform connecting cab drivers to their customers. Their app was engineered utilizing some of Node.js tools and programming languages. Although they’re constantly introducing new technologies, Node.js remains their base as it allows fast scaling. Worth adding is that Uber was one of the first companies that utilized Node.js.

*“One of the things that make Node.js uniquely suited to running in production is that you can inspect and change a program without restarting it. So very few other languages offer that capability. Not a lot of people seem to know that ability exists, but indeed you can inspect and even change your program while it’s running without restarting it.”* \~ Matt Ranney, Senior Staff Engineer at Uber

**Benefits:**

* great processing power
* gained an open-source community

<ReadMore> Read also: [Why Choose NestJS As Your Backend Framework?](https://selleo.com/blog/why-choose-nest-js-as-your-backend-framework) </ReadMore>

### LinkedIn

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/640x160/087ccd3e6f/linkedin_logo_2019.jpg)

A platform serving over 63 million users in 2011 decided to make a switch from Ruby on Rails to Node.js. By doing so, developers were able to move from synchronous to asynchronous even system. This resulted in a boost in performance and scalability.

*“We use a ton of technologies at [Linkedin](https://pl.linkedin.com/), but for the mobile server piece, it’s entirely Node-based. One reason was scale. The second is, if you look at Node, the thing it’s best at doing is talking to other services. The mobile app has to talk to our platform API and database. We’re not doing massive data analytics. Node showed us huge performance gains compared to what we were using before, which was Ruby on Rails.”* \~ Kiran Prasad, VP of Product at Linkedin

**Benefits:**

* reducing the number of servers from 15 to 4
* double the traffic capacity
* app working 2-10 times faster

### Yahoo

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/640x360/da33d62b07/yahoo-logo.jpg)

[Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/) started utilizing Node.js less than a year after Node’s initial release in 2009. In 2016 Yahoo became a part of [Node.js Foundation](https://nodejs.org/en/blog/announcements/apigee-rising-stack-yahoo/). Ever since a lot of Yahoo’s new products are SPAs or sites using Node.js. Yahoo’s blog confirms that [75% of its web applications](https://yahooeng.tumblr.com/tagged/nodejs) are Node-powered.

*“Initially, we used it for performing simple backend tasks like file upload. Since then, Node.js has become one of the top programming languages for developing new front-end applications at Yahoo.”*

**Benefits:**

* increase in performance

<Baner name={node-js} />

### Trello

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/640x360/7d5bf3da3d/trello-logo.jpg)

A project management tool used by over 25 million people worldwide and Selleo is one of them. [Trello](https://trello.com/) uses Node.js for its server-side and as a prototyping tool for building single-page applications.

*“The server side was built with Node.js. Node.js was helpful when the company was templating a tool for a one-page application. By the time the company had finished the prototype, they decided to stick with Node also at the server side of the application.”* \~ [Node.JS company blog](https://blog.trello.com/the-trello-tech-stack)

**Benefits:**

* event-driven, non-blocking server
* ability to hold many open connections for instant updates

### eBay

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/640x256/3af8580ab3/2560px-ebay_logo-svg.jpg)

[eBay](https://www.ebay.com/) needed to have a real-time application to maintain live connections with the server together with a great solution that could handle a huge number of eBay-specific services. Among many features of Node.js they mention: performance, scalability, speed, simplicity, full control and feeling of transparency.

_"Now we had our Node.js web service running in various stable environments. This whole deployment setup was quicker and simpler than we had expected. We had two primary requirements for the project. The first was to make the application as real-time as possible–i.e., maintain live connections with the server. The second was to orchestrate a huge number of eBay-specific services that display information on the page–i.e., handle I/O-bound operations." _ \~ [eBay tech blog](https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/blogs/tech/how-we-built-ebays-first-node-js-application/)

**Benefits:**

* faster and more reliable application
* single threading
* transparent processes

### Groupon

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/640x138/910e1b9f09/1280px-groupon_logo-svg.jpg)

With Ruby on Rails, Java and PHP getting harder to maintain, [Groupon](https://www.groupon.com/) decided to rebuild their web layer on Node.js. Their year-long moving project has become one of the largest production deployments of Node.js.

*“Here at Groupon we believe that open collaboration is what leads to real innovation in the technology community. As I quoted in the press release Node.js infrastructure has been extremely important to us and is core to our platform.”* \~ Sri Viswanath, CTO and senior vice president of engineering at Groupon

**Benefits:**

* 50% faster platform
* more stability and capability to handle big amounts of traffic
* smooth and flexible

### Walmart

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/86602/640x249/a4de5c2ea8/download.jpg)

With a $481.32 billion global net sales in 2017, [Walmart](https://www.walmart.com/) decided to use Node.js despite it being a young technology. They redeveloped their mobile app to provide advanced features to customers. Node’s famous asynchronous I/O brought great effects, excellent UI and security.

**Benefits:**

* new plugins and NPM packages
* precise results
* capable of using SmartOS

If you want to learn more about it, watch [this talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_VN29ENx_U) by Alex Grigoryan.

## Summary

Besides those companies mentioned above, the amazing features of Node.js were also recognized by Medium, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla. With its growing popularity, more and more enterprises will experiment with this simple yet performant JavaScript environment.

Node.js is the way forward, so if you’re looking to outsource Node.js development, feel free to [contact us](https://selleo.com/node-js-expert-developers-team)!

Node.js is great for creating collaboration tools, social media apps and many more. Do you want to know which popular names recognized Node's features? Read on.

10 Successful Companies Using Node.js

### AWS LAMBDA

AWS has a great set of tools for running your application in the cloud. One of them Amazon calls [Lambda](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/welcome.html).

### INTRO TO LAMBDA

As the service’s name suggests, Lambda is about executing one function with arguments, processing and returning some output. It has an attractive pricing model, as AWS charges you for each started 100ms execution time along with the cost for allocated memory. Each execution has five minutes before timing out. There is also a limitation in memory, up to 1.5GB.

### CREATING A SAMPLE LAMBDA FUNCTION

To create a new function, you need to open AWS console from a browser. You can upload Lambda functions from a terminal console, but let’s keep things simple and execute it from the visual editor.

Let’s head to the [Lambda home page](https://us-west-2.console.aws.amazon.com/lambda/home?region=us-west-2#). The first time you open the page, AWS presents to you a default screen where you can get started with the AWS Lambda service.

**This view offers you various of blueprints. I strongly encourage you to check them all afterwards. There is plenty of sample examples, so it is one of the great ways to start looking into the service.**

For now let’s start with something plainly simple: creating a function which takes our input and displays it in the console. Click the **Skip** button at the bottom right-hand corner of the page  

That takes you to the page where you can preconfigure triggers. Triggers are responsible for starting a function for a certain action. Lambda is a little tightly coupled to other AWS services, and we definitely can take advantage of this. When you click on the square with a greyish striped border, you are presented with a list of other services which can execute the function when there is the event.  

**For instance, such event can be a new file uploaded to S3 or a request made to the API Gateway service. There are lots of possibilities, and that is great. As Lambda offers scalability, you might find that Lambda can act as a scalable back-end for a huge amount of requests.**

Let’s click the **Next** button and move the section about configuring a new function. For this case, we use **Node.js 4.3**. Add a descriptive name for the function, e.g._ProcessingTestData_, create a dummy description, _the description is required_.

**Now you can create the code. Right now there are three ways to put your code into Lambda:**

Upload zipped files  

* Online editor
* Use link to uploaded zipped files to S3

Let’s keep this plainly and edit the function in the browser.  

### FUNCTION STRUCTURE

Lambda requires having exported a function **handler** which can take up to three params:

* _event_ – data passed while executing the function
* _context_ – useful info about runtime
* _callback_ – used for returning data to the caller

We can use _console.log_, and AWS stores Lambda logs in the CloudWatch service.

Now let’s create a new role from the template and assign it appropriate **Role name**:

**In the next section, you can configure memory, timeout and VPC.**

Let’s stick to the default settings. Then click the **Next **button.

Now you can see a concise summary of settings for the Lambda instance. Let’s go and click **Create function**. It takes a while, but after a few seconds AWS redirects you to the page where you can see the function and play with that:

Now we are interested in the **Test** button. The first time you click the button, it opens a modal box, where you can specify dummy data for executing given function. It is an excellent way to test a new or existing functions:

**It is time to edit the dummy data. Our function requires a few params, like in the screen:**

After filling it, click the **Save and test **button in the bottom right-hand corner. AWS executed the function with provided params, and we can see it immediately in the area below code editor:


**Congratulations! You executed your first AWS Lambda function. Now it is time to put this knowledge into practice. Go ahead and create a few AWS functions, connect it with S3 or API Gateway. Play with the samples provided in the new AWS Lambda screen view.**

AWS has a great set of tools for running your application in the cloud. One of them Amazon calls Lambda.

Intro To AWS Lambda

**This article covers general information about micro services like:**

* **Definition**  

* **Usages** 
* **Advantages**
* **Disadvantages**

### WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF MICROSERVICES?

As name stated, a micro service is a small service. It has one, **well defined purpose**. Actually size does not matter that much in this context. A micro service may be for calculating a report so it has a single responsibility, but it is big. That’s why it’s better not to think about its size, but its responsibilities. Another key thing in definition is its role in a system. When you have micro services, they work together and produce results. To the great extension each of the micro services is independent of each other. A micro service, is **a service, designed for one purpose**. It **produces desired results working with other services**.

### WHEN TO USE MICROSERVICES?

Firstly let’s assume that you have a monolith system. You have set up good a foundation in the main service. The monolith grow into a significant size, and its maintainability started to become challenging. **To improve maintainability** it’s better to split the monolith into small services. In the next case, you may have again a monolith system. This time, you would like to add a new feature. **To reduce cost of extending the big system**, you create a new service and integrate it with the existing one. The other case may be up front design for micro services. Let’s say that you have a customer who needs **a system with lots of integrations**. Also the system should be easy to extended with new ones. That is a good usage for micro services, as you define small services which handle each part of the system on their own. Another great usage is for **grouping coworkers into teams working on separate services**. This way you may have people across the globe. You group them together in teams by a country. Then each team handles just their own services.

### WHAT ARE ADVANTAGES OF MICROSERVICES?

A great advantage of a micro service architecture is that it **allows to make independent changes to the system**. This option enables you to be more flexible and responsive to your customer’s requirements. It allows you to **scale each part of the system separately**. Thus you are free to focus your attention on just one service, e.g. the one which slows the system down, and scale the service to get what you need. What is more, when you add an auto scaling option for a micro service, you can handle scaling automatically.One of the key things for bigger customers in particular, is the time needed to release features. By using micro services, you are very often able to **release new features faster**. You just need to modify independent services, rather than the entire system. The micro service pattern enables you to **aggregate certain services into groups**. For instance, a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) or an Availability Zone in AWS. When you work with a monolithic system, each part of the system is in one place – in one VPC. A monolithic system does not give you as much flexibility as you have with a microservices-based solution. Another great advantage that comes with microservices is **the possibility to use a number of different technologies** for different services operating within one system. It is, for example, useful when you developed a system using one main technology, e.g. Python, and later you need to migrate the system into Scala or Haskell for better performance / speed. In a monolithic system it is impossible. You need to migrate the entire system into a new technology. Another benefit is that **you can focus on just one service which requires enhancements**. Firstly, it is easier to check the performance of the system by examining its different services rather than trying to analyse a monolithic system in its entirety. Secondly, you move on to improve just the slowest service(s). A similar approach can be adopted for dealing with security issues. You may find that a given service needs improvements in terms of security, e.g. it calls for a new data encryption method. It is easier to do so in one relevant service rather than handle a similar issue in a big monolithic system. **Last but not least, you can deploy separate teams to work on specific services**. While working on a monolithic system, with more dependencies, it may be harder to split the work in a clear and straightforward fashion. It is particularly useful when you work with collaborators from different geographic locations.

### **WHAT ARE DISADVANTAGES OF MICROSERVICES?**

The first drawback is connected with a somewhat limiting architecture design. For instance, due to weak encapsulation you may face a lot of issues while extending the system. Though repairing such a design is possible, it is also challenging and fairly expensive. At the beginning of the project **customers may not be able to see some very tangible value,** despite significant effort invested in developing the microservices-based architecture. It is especially noticeable when you work with start-ups. They very often attempt to create systems speedily, which may be rather hard to achieve with microservices as opposed to monolithic architectures. Another challenge is **testing.** When you create a number of micro services, you will find it challenging to test them properly. If you want to ensure solid test coverage it may be more expensive. The use of services facilitates the **application of different technologies on the same project**. This is a great advantage for some contexts but it is also a double-edged sword. When you have too many options to choose from, you are more likely to select an option which has not been designed for solving a given problem or introduce unnecessary complexity into the system built. It might also be hard to change anything within such a complex system, especially when you deliver service to a corporate client. Changes in such situations require approval by many levels of staff. It leads to time consuming bureaucracy. There is also a challenge associated with  the hierarchy of services; if there is an issue at an upper-level service, you may find it hard to trace its root cause if the issue is visible at the lower-level services. To handle the challenge one needs to ensure **a good overview of information flows across all services levels.** Otherwise you will end up with issues which are hard to trace and debug. Last but not least, you need to **remember about [deployment automation](https://selleo.com/devops)**. If you do not automate deployment processes or testing, you will end up with a lot of manual and error-prone work to do. There is for sure an upfront investment to make to set it up at the beginning and it will only pay off only later in the process.

This article covers general information about micro services like: definition, usages, advantages, disadvantages.

Read our Node articles on Selleo Blog

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10 Successful Companies Using Node.js

Intro To AWS Lambda

General Information About Microservices

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