Summary
This module was about integrating data and services into your functions. We started with a quick tour of the binding types that show up when you add them to a function. Then, we looked at reading data from an Azure Cosmos DB by using an input binding. Azure Functions takes care of managing connection strings, and we saw how it's easy to read data in our code by using the binding. Finally, we focused our attention on writing data to different sources with the help of output bindings.
This journey is summarized in the following table, which shows the different bindings that you used in each of the units listed.
| Learning Unit | Triggers | Input bindings | Output bindings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Explore input and output binding types | HTTP | HTTP | HTTP |
| Read data with input bindings | HTTP | HTTP Azure Cosmos DB |
HTTP |
| Write data with output bindings | HTTP | HTTP Azure Cosmos DB |
HTTP Azure Cosmos DB Azure Queue Storage |
You can apply the approaches you've learned here to add and test bindings in your functions. Here are a few interesting ideas to get more practice with bindings and to build on what you have learned here.
Create another function to read from Blob storage and other input bindings that we haven't used in this module.
Create another function to write to more destinations by using other supported output binding types.
In the preceding unit, we introduced a queue and posted messages to it with an output binding. As a next step, consider adding another function that reads the messages in the queue and prints the MESSAGE TEXT to the console with
console.log().
As we saw in this module, the Azure portal offers easy-to-use features to start building functions and connecting them to data and other services.
If you're interested in doing serverless integrations like these with visual workflows and little or no custom code, check out Azure Logic Apps as well.
Clean up
The sandbox automatically cleans up your resources when you're finished with this module.
When you're working in your own subscription, it's a good idea at the end of a project to identify whether you still need the resources you created. Resources that you leave running can cost you money. You can delete resources individually or delete the resource group to delete the entire set of resources.
Additional resources
The following resources are related to the subjects covered in this module that you might find interesting:
- Azure Functions documentation
- Azure Serverless Computing Cookbook
- How to use Queue storage from Node.js
- Introduction to Azure Cosmos DB: SQL API
- A technical overview of Azure Cosmos DB
- Azure Cosmos DB documentation