Fearless JVM Lambdas - John Chapin

John Chapin discusses running JVM-based applications on AWS Lambda, comparing Clojure and ClojureScript performance and startup times.

The modern Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is the culmination of millions of hours of expert engineering, but is often derided as being a poor fit for the ephemeral world of Serverless applications. The truth of the matter is that the JVM is an excellent choice of runtime for a wide range of AWS Lambda use cases, and developers need not even constrain themselves to just the Java language to use it. This talk gives an overview of the JVM runtime for AWS Lambda, as well as a comprehensive look at JVM-based Lambda performance across a range of use cases. He outlines a set of criteria to help architects and engineers decide whether or not to choose the JVM over the other runtime options. He also gives strategies, tips, and examples for developing efficient, performant AWS Lambda functions in a variety of JVM languages, but with a particular focus on Clojure. John Chapin is a co-founder of Symphonia, a Serverless and Cloud Technology Consultancy. John has over 15 years of experience in technology leadership and implementation. Previously, he was VP Engineering, Core Services & Data Science at Intent Media, where he helped teams transform how they delivered business value through Serverless technology and agile practices. He is also a co-organizer of the NYC Clojure Meetup.