JVM STARTUP TIME CODE

They get loaded and unloaded into any available server before being executed. However, Serverless Functions don’t necessarily hang around waiting to be called. Pretty neat, huh? Yes, one of the biggest perks of Serverless Functions is that you only pay for the time that they actually run.

You don’t need to manage it, you don’t need to keep it running, and you don’t get charged for a server that isn’t running.

JVM STARTUP TIME CODE

These are small snippets of code that are run on compute capability somewhere in the cloud. Let’s put this in the context of Serverless Functions. It’s an interpreted language, so it gets loaded immediately then runs through an interpreter which executes the code. JavaScript, on the other hand, doesn’t have a compiler. Let’s just reiterate that: the application is slow when it executes a section of code for the first time, due to the JIT compiler compiling the next section of code before executing it. This flexibility also slows the application down on its first run. This gives it the benefit of being able to run classes efficiently, only loading the classes it needs as it uses them, and allows the use of reflection. Java uses a Just In Time (JIT) compiler which, as its name suggests, initially compiles the bare minimum of what is needed to start the application, and then compiles additional classes as needed while it runs. JavaScript seems to have the edge on Java in both aspects here. Increasing the memory allocated to a Serverless Function can have the side effect of increasing the speed that it takes to execute, but it doesn’t necessarily make it cheaper because cost is a function of both time and memory. Serverless Functions are also charged for every GB-second consumed, so a small memory footprint and fast execution time is key to reducing costs, and JavaScript covers both these cases just fine. Reducing the memory allocated to the Java Serverless Function can slow it down, or in extreme circumstances, not allow it to load at all! Its JAR files alone can be huge just to load its dependencies before it even runs. And let’s face it, Java can be a pig when it comes to the way that it handles memory.

It seems the main reason for the popularity of JavaScript in Lambdas is due to its speed of execution, especially the cold start times of Serverless Functions, and its overall memory consumption. It’s even easier to code in, and many say it runs quicker than Java. Over the years however, we have seen a rise in the popularity of JavaScript for use in server applications, with Node.js and, more recently, the advent of Serverless Functions (or Lambdas in AWS speak). Java has been around for a long time, and is a trusted language for use in large scale server applications due to its secure compiled code, ease of coding and extensibility. In short, it’s worth checking out if you’re interested in writing Lambdas in Java. Running a native image and custom runtime can yield cold start times of around 0.31s, eclipsing a Java Lambda running on Amazon’s runtime, and significantly closing the gap to JavaScript Lambdas. We can narrow the gap between Lambdas written in Java and JavaScript by using the Quarkus framework for our Java Lambda project to compile it Ahead Of Time (AOT) and create a native image and custom runtime using GraalVM. Java’s 0.7s cold start time isn’t as bad as it once was, but compared to JavaScript‘s 0.16s it may be a touch slow, especially when chaining several Lambdas. There can also be significant improvements made from a warm startup. We’ve all heard that Lambdas written in Java are slow, but there’s more that we developers can do to help improve Java Lambda execution times, especially from a cold start.

Jvm startup time