In simple English
This tool lets you run small pieces of code without managing a full server all the time. You send a request, your code runs, and the system shuts down when it finishes. You can run it on your own hardware instead of paying a public cloud provider. It is free to use under an open licence. Setting it up requires technical knowledge and a server to host it.
What it is
Apache OpenWhisk is a serverless functions platform that executes code in response to events. It provides a complete system to deploy, manage, and scale serverless applications on Kubernetes or local machines.
What it is good for
Solo builders who want to run event-driven backend tasks on private servers without relying on proprietary cloud services.
- Run serverless functions on your own servers without vendor lock-in.
- Supports multiple programming languages and custom runtimes.
- Includes a standalone mode for local testing and development.
- High setup complexity for non-programmers and solo builders.
- Requires Docker (a way to run a program inside its own sealed box, so it cannot break anything else on your server) and Java to run locally.
- Substantial memory and server resources needed for production clusters.
AWS Lambda or Google Cloud Functions
Kubernetes
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git clone https://github.com/apache/openwhisk.git cd openwhisk ./gradlew core:standalone:bootRun