Taking Python Serverless: Using Zappa to Deploy Webapps Without Infrastructure

So you've built your Python application and want to deploy it to your users. How do you go about that? One increasingly common answer to that question is ""deploy it as a serverless application"". What does it mean to deploy a serverless app, and how can you try out serverless in a low-risk way?

This talk will answer both of those questions. First, it will give an overview of serverless applications and the advantages they provide over other deployment modes. Next it will dig into Zappa, a library for deploying serverless python apps, and show how Zappa allows you to deploy your webapp as a serverless application in seconds. This ease also comes with trade-offs, so the talk will close by discussing what you lose with Zappa and how we've worked around those limits at Nuna. By the end of this talk, you'll have a better understanding of serverless applications and you'll be able to evaluate if Zappa is the right fit for your needs.

Talk Resources:

Zappa: https://github.com/Miserlou/Zappa
Serverless: https://serverless.com/
AWS SAM: https://aws.amazon.com/serverless/sam/
Chalice - https://github.com/aws/chalice
PEP 333 - https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0333/
AWS Lambda Limitations - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/limits.html
Serverless Conf NYC: https://acloud.guru/series/serverlessconf-nyc-2019
Google Cloud Run: https://cloud.google.com/run/
AWS Fargate: https://aws.amazon.com/fargate/

Transcript

1. @maltzj Taking Python Serverless: Using Zappa to Deploy Webapps Without Infrastructure Jonathan Maltz @maltzj 11-13-19 AUTHOR DATE
2. @maltzj @maltzj I just wrote my python webapp!
3. @maltzj @maltzj
4. @maltzj @maltzj Build a .whl file
5. @maltzj @maltzj Build a .whl file Deploy to an EC2 instance
6. @maltzj @maltzj Build a .whl file Deploy to an EC2 instance Gunicorn
7. @maltzj @maltzj Build a .whl file Deploy to an EC2 instance Gunicorn nginx
8. @maltzj @maltzj
9. @maltzj @maltzj Add your python code Gunicorn nginx
10. @maltzj @maltzj nginx
11. @maltzj @maltzj
12. @maltzj @maltzj
13. @maltzj @maltzj Lambda's Promise: Give me a zip file within some constraints, and I'll just run that code for you
14. @maltzj @maltzj How can it talk to the world?
15. @maltzj @maltzj
16. @maltzj @maltzj API Gateway's Promise: I'll manage all your RESTful APIs in front of AWS services
17. @maltzj @maltzj
18. @maltzj @maltzj
19. @maltzj @maltzj Serverless Frameworks!
20. @maltzj @maltzj Serverless Frameworks: Tools that let you stitch together your serverless code and provision the necessary cloud resources.
21. @maltzj • Zappa Serverless Frameworks
22. @maltzj • Zappa • Serverless Serverless Frameworks
23. @maltzj • Zappa • Serverless • AWS SAM Serverless Frameworks
24. @maltzj • Zappa • Serverless • AWS SAM • Chalice Serverless Frameworks
25. @maltzj • Zappa • Serverless • AWS SAM • Chalice Serverless Frameworks
26. @maltzj @maltzj
27. @maltzj @maltzj WSGI
28. @maltzj @maltzj Application Server
29. @maltzj @maltzj Application Server (Things that deal with raw HTTP)
30. @maltzj @maltzj Application (Frameworks that use parsed HTTP) Server (Things that deal with raw HTTP)
31. @maltzj @maltzj Application (Frameworks that use parsed HTTP) Server (Things that deal with raw HTTP) callable(environ, start_response)
32. @maltzj @maltzj Application (Frameworks that use parsed HTTP) Server (Things that deal with raw HTTP) callable(environ, start_response)
33. @maltzj @maltzj Application (Frameworks that use parsed HTTP) Server (Things that deal with raw HTTP) callable(environ, start_response)
34. @maltzj @maltzj So what?
35. @maltzj @maltzj Zappa Handler (Speaks WSGI) Your WSGI App
36. @maltzj @maltzj Zappa Handler (Speaks WSGI) Your WSGI App Zappa CLI
37. @maltzj @maltzj Zappa Handler (Speaks WSGI) Your WSGI App Zappa CLI Lambda-ready Zip
38. @maltzj @maltzj Zappa Handler (Speaks WSGI) Your WSGI App Zappa CLI Lambda-ready Zip AWS
39. @maltzj @maltzj Zappa Handler (Speaks WSGI) Your WSGI App Zappa CLI Lambda-ready Zip AWS Opinionated cloud provisioning (via Boto)
40. @maltzj @maltzj
41. @maltzj @maltzj
42. @maltzj • No servers == rethinking lots of assumptions ◦ How do I get to my DB? ◦ Where are my logs? ◦ Lean on cloud services to mitigate • Some constraint on what you can build ◦ Lambda size limits, application response sizes ◦ Many can be worked around Some things to be aware of
43. @maltzj How's Zappa Overall? • Very quick if you will play within its box ◦ WSGI webapps, only python • Maintenance story is not great • Would suggest evaluating alongside serverless + plugins
44. @maltzj @maltzj
45. @maltzj • Zappa: https://github.com/Miserlou/Zappa • Serverless: https://serverless.com/ • AWS SAM: https://aws.amazon.com/serverless/sam/ • Chalice - https://github.com/aws/chalice • PEP 333 - https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0333/ • AWS Lambda Limitations - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/limits.html • Serverless Conf NYC: https://acloud.guru/series/serverlessconf-nyc-2019 • Google Cloud Run: https://cloud.google.com/run/ • AWS Fargate: https://aws.amazon.com/fargate/ Resources
46. @maltzj @maltzj https://boards.greenhouse.io/nuna/