Serverless architecture is a modern software design pattern where applications are hosted by third-party services, allowing developers to focus on writing code without managing server infrastructure. This approach, often referred to as Function as a Service (FaaS), abstracts the server management away from the developer, who only needs to deploy code that runs in stateless compute containers managed by a cloud provider. These functions can be triggered by various events, such as HTTP requests or database changes ¹.

One of the main advantages of serverless architecture is cost efficiency, as users are charged based on the actual time and memory used to run their code. Additionally, scalability is automatically handled by the cloud provider, which means developers do not need to worry about scaling their services during peak loads. However, there are some drawbacks, such as potential performance issues with cold starts and resource limits that may not suit compute-intensive workloads ¹.

Overall, serverless architecture can significantly streamline development processes, especially for microservices and applications with variable workloads.