This chapter describes the Lambda pattern, which is not to be confused with AWS Lambda functions. The Lambda architecture consists of two layers, typically used in data analytics processing. The two layers include a speed layer to calculate data in near-real time and a batch layer that processes vast amounts of historical data in batches.
Because serverless platforms allow us to scale horizontally very quickly, and since it's simple to store large amounts of data, the Lambda pattern is well suited for a serverless implementation. Lambda architectures are relatively new, coming onto the scene with the advent of big data processing and the desire to see the results of processing sooner than was previously available using batch systems such as Hadoop. This type of architecture or pattern is especially interesting since there are so many components involved in making it work, which we'll walk through using an example application that will calculate...