Amazon Web Services (AWS) Lambda is a serverless computing service. While that seems to imply that no servers are involved, it actually means that AWS provides the servers businesses and other clients need to power their code-based activities on the Web. The client supplies the code, and Lambda runs the code for virtually any type of backend service or application. Lambda accepts a variety of code languages, including Node.js, Python, Ruby, Java, .NET, and Go. Once the code is written, AWS Lambda runs it when needed in response to events, such as HTTP requests using Amazon API Gateway, changes in data to an Amazon S3 bucket or DaynamoDB table, or process streaming data stored in Amazon Kinesis. AWS essentially takes the administrative responsibilities out of the hands of the client and provides services such as monitoring fleet health, applying security patches, and provisioning capacity as well as deploying code.‎

Learning AWS Lambda can help you qualify for a variety of AWS positions, including AWS engineer, AWS Glue data engineer, AWS DevOps engineer, AWS cloud data engineer, and AWS infrastructure support. You might also pursue a career as a full-stack Java developer with AWS Lambda or an AWS consultant. Outside of the AWS arena, career opportunities that can arise from learning AWS Lambda also include software engineer, backend engineer, and DevOps engineer.‎

By taking online courses on Coursera, you can understand the basics of AWS Lambda, learn how to create a lambda function in Python and other languages, create an API gateway, create an Amazon S3 bucket and upload front-end code to it, and make a website accessible from the internet by enabling website hosting on S3 using AWS Lambda. You also have the opportunity to learn how to build a RESTful API application using AWS Lambda and understand how to access error logs and monitor server performance. Learning AWS Lambda through online courses can also give you a better understanding of the various services provided by AWS beyond Lambda.‎