Daniele Frasca 🇮🇹🇩🇪🇪🇺Nov 11, 2022

I read this article https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/opensource/improving-developer-productivity-at-disney-with-serverless-and-open-source/

Disney reduced cold start using #GraalVM

When I look at the image, I see:
- High memory settings
- High Duration

It means high cost.

Don't get me wrong, they improved a lot with the native image, but this is not the point of #serverless.

With #serverless you can write different #lambda with another runtime.

With #rust, you can run 256MB #Lambda and still get a better cold start of native-java at 3000M

Improving Developer Productivity at Disney with Serverless and Open Source | Amazon Web Services

Disney Streaming's use of serverless and open source technologies has improved their ability to deliver business value safely and reliably.

Amazon Web Services
Show threadDaniele Frasca 🇮🇹🇩🇪🇪🇺Nov 11, 2022

The argument is: "we use language X, and we use it for all, no matter what. It is easier to maintain, and all devs can change the code". I think this is not the best tool for the job, and I believe the runtime could be a game changer at the Disney scale.

Even using #Golang will give you better performance and price reduction. It is not #Rust but the best tool for the job that, in this case, is not #java

Show threadsabzNov 11, 2022
@dfrasca80 I agree with you java lags vs Go but often the choice of runtime also dictated by what kind of devs you have . Because adoption of serverless is still new orgs often have devs who are used to in JVM lang so there is also a cost involve to retrain them and gain operational excellence . So if one have devs for Go then sure use it otherwise graal native gives a fighting chance.
Show threadDaniele Frasca 🇮🇹🇩🇪🇪🇺Nov 11, 2022
@sabz, it is true. But we are #developers, so that we can write the same code in different languages.
#Serverless for #Disney is not new, for example. However, single functionality #Lambda reduces the complexity. I am not saying it is easier to have Lambda written in multiple runtimes or to write a Lambda in a different runtime without some practice. Still, you know insisting and covering behind my dev are only #JAVA dev. It is not right to me anymore.
Show threadSebastian Stein 🇺🇦
@dfrasca80 @sabz Maybe they are having very fat lambdas and not really single purposes one?! I could imagine that their lambda is build on big framework.
Nov 11, 2022 at 10:21amWeb
Show threadDaniele Frasca 🇮🇹🇩🇪🇪🇺Nov 11, 2022
@steinchen @sabz, maybe it is all possible, but # disney showcases many things in the past on #aws, and to me, they are the edge. I am just talking aloud to get other opinions 😉
Show threadSebastian Stein 🇺🇦Nov 11, 2022
@dfrasca80 @sabz I think it is also about developer productivity. I also looked extensively at #Rust with >20yrs of programming experience and I really find it hard to adopt.
Show threadDaniele Frasca 🇮🇹🇩🇪🇪🇺Nov 11, 2022

@steinchen @sabz I get it.
I come from #dotnet, moved to #node years ago for #lambda, and now I am doing #rust #golang based on the project.
People with only #javascript or #python background found it more challenging to adopt, but I think it depends from person to person.

I do not know the darker corners of those languages, and it is fine (I hope)

Show threadsabzNov 11, 2022
@dfrasca80 @steinchen sometimes there's need to be a synergy between developer's wish vs orgs goal. As developer we all like to learn and use new tech . I use both JVM , Go and python daily basis. But from orgs perspective sometimes you need to also stop the proliferation of tools and tech and sometime a good enough solution is better than a perfect one. Having said that I do not know background of Disney and what motivates the decision.