HarperDB, an enterprise-class database company, just announced a new and innovative Custom Functions feature. Custom Functions combine serverless functions with the underlying database, collapsing the stack into a single solution with the ability to define custom API endpoints that have direct access to HarperDB core operations. HarperDB’s serverless Custom Functions, powered by Fastify, are just like AWS Lambda functions or Stored Procedures. Functions are low maintenance and easy to develop; define logic and choose when to execute.
“We are excited about the release of Custom Functions as it puts the power, flexibility, and simplicity of HarperDB in developers’ hands, enabling them to create unique solutions that scale and deploy on top of their data,” said Kyle Bernhardy, CTO of HarperDB.
Custom Functions are file-based and written in Node.js. They provide access to core database methods to execute operation calls against HarperDB directly, which removes an HTTP call from the process and speeds everything up considerably.
Up until HarperDB 3.1, to power an application, users had to deploy and host their backend API code on additional servers, then call out to HarperDB for database needs, which is a pretty typical software stack. These traditional architectures naturally introduce latency as data moves across multiple servers through a local network or potentially even the Internet.
HarperDB’s Custom Functions enable developers to build their entire application backend in one place. HarperDB is collapsing the stack onto a single server, eliminating all network latency, enhancing speed, and freeing up headroom to achieve higher throughput from a single server. By capitalizing on HarperDB’s already powerful horizontal scalability, users can now distribute their APIs and database to the edge. Custom Functions can be used to power things like integration with third-party apps and APIs, AI and machine learning, third-party authentication, defining database functionality, and serving a website.
HarperDB Custom Functions can be developed in the HarperDB Studio or in IDE and Version Management Systems. Users can develop, maintain, and deploy HarperDB Custom Functions code just like any other development project, eliminating the need to deviate from existing development practices.
Learn more about HarperDB’s Custom Functions in the docs, including tips on creating a project and managing Custom Functions in the Studio. Or, watch a recording of HarperDB’s Custom Functions livestream event to see the features in action.About HarperDBHarperDB was founded in 2017 with the goal of delivering a simplified data management solution without sacrificing scale or performance. The HarperDB database solution is used for distributed applications, edge persistence, hybrid and multi-cloud, IoT, app development, and enterprise data warehousing.
