Open source frameworks for serverless computing
Apache OpenWhisk
Written mainly in Scala, it accepts input from a number of triggers, such as HTTP requests, then fires code—either a snippet in Swift or JavaScript, or a binary in a Docker container—in response. Multiple actions can be chained together from a single trigger, and rules can describe what triggers touch off what actions. It’s also possible to integrate OpenWhisk with external API services like those found in GitHub and Slack, or for a service that offers webhooks or API endpoints.
Fission
Fission builds on Platform9’s Kubernetes expertise to deliver a serverless architecture. It uses an existing Kubernetes cluster—whether provided by Platform9 or one you’ve rolled yourself—as the infrastructure for a function-as-a-service architecture. Triggers run functions that are provisioned in Docker containers, and Fission allows commonly used functions to be prewarmed to reduce startup time.
IronFunctions
IronFunctions uses Docker containers as a basic unit of work for a function, so it can support any language runtime that’ll fit in a container. To that end, the only prerequisite needed is Docker and a login for Docker Hub; orchestration frameworks like Kubernetes are optional. Functions written in Go (the same language used for IronFunctions) can be built and deployed directly.
Gestalt
It is billed as a set of pre-integrated microservices for running “future-proofed cloud native applications.” One of those components is a FaaS stratum, or the Lambda Engine, as Gestalt’s creator calls it. It boasts orders-of-magnitude better speed than Amazon Lambda and the freedom to use almost any language with a standalone runtime. It can be deployed in a Kubernetes cluster with the Helm installer, or it can run on Mesosphere DC/OS with an installer available for that platform.
