As a frontend developer, you live in a world of components, state management, and user interfaces. Your primary goal is to build slick, responsive, and intuitive experiences. But often, you hit a wall—not a design wall, but a data wall. You need a backend endpoint to fetch some data, process a form, or trigger an action. Suddenly, you're faced with a choice: wait for the backend team, or dive into the complex world of servers, routes, databases, and API boilerplate yourself.
What if there was a third way? What if you could write a simple, isolated piece of code and have it instantly become a secure, scalable API?
This is the promise of function.do. It's a platform built on a simple, powerful idea: Deploy Functions. Get APIs. We handle the rest.
Let's be honest. Building a "simple" REST API endpoint is rarely simple. The typical process involves:
All this for a single function that might just take a user's email and add it to a mailing list. For frontend developers, this is often overkill—a mountain of infrastructure burying a molehill of logic.
At function.do, we believe in the power of atomic functions. An atomic function is a small, self-contained unit of code designed to perform one specific task perfectly. It’s not an entire application; it's a single, focused piece of logic.
Think of it like a React component, but for your backend. It takes in props (parameters) and returns a result. It’s easy to write, easy to test, and completely reusable. Now, imagine if every one of these functions could be its own live API endpoint, automatically.
With function.do, the distance between your logic and a production-ready API is virtually zero. You don't build a server; you just write the function.
Here's a complete example in TypeScript. This function generates a personalized greeting:
import { Do, Fn } from '@do-are/sdk';
/**
* @description Generates a personalized greeting.
* @param { name: string } - The name to include in the greeting.
* @returns { message: string } - The personalized greeting message.
*/
export const getGreeting: Fn = async ({ name }) => {
if (!name) {
throw new Error('A name is required to generate a greeting.');
}
const message = `Hello, ${name}! Welcome to the platform.`;
// This object is returned as the JSON API response.
return { message };
};
// Deploying this creates a unique API endpoint:
// POST https://your-name.function.do/getGreeting
// BODY { "name": "World" }
That’s it. There’s no app.listen(), no router.post(), no server configuration. You write the getGreeting function, export it, and deploy it. The function.do platform instantly creates a secure, scalable HTTPS endpoint for you.
You can now call this API from your frontend application, a cURL command, or any other service, just like any other API.
"But what about complex applications?" you might ask. This is where the magic of composable functions comes in. Because each function is a standard API endpoint, you can easily call one function from another.
Imagine you have three atomic functions:
You can create a fourth function, signUpUser, that orchestrates calls to the other three. Each function remains simple, independently deployable, and scalable. This is the core principle of microservices, made radically simple and accessible. You build complex workflows by composing simple, reusable blocks of logic.
We know this approach is different, so here are some common questions.
Q: What is an atomic function?
A: An atomic function is a small, self-contained unit of code designed to perform one specific task perfectly. On the function.do platform, each function you export becomes its own dedicated, scalable API endpoint.
Q: How is this different from AWS Lambda or Google Cloud Functions?
A: function.do offers radical simplicity. While other platforms provide building blocks, we provide a complete, production-ready solution. You write the logic, and we instantly generate a secure, scalable, and documented API. There is zero boilerplate or infrastructure to manage.
Q: Can my function use external NPM packages?
A: Yes. Simply define your dependencies in a package.json file alongside your function code. The platform automatically installs them during the deployment process.
Q: Are these functions composable?
A: Absolutely. You can compose functions by calling one function.do endpoint from another using our SDK or a standard HTTP client. This allows you to build complex workflows from simple, reusable, and independently scalable parts.
As a frontend developer, your time is best spent creating incredible user experiences. function.do frees you from the backend complexity that slows you down. Turn your ideas into live APIs in minutes, not days. Focus on your logic, and let us handle the rest.
Ready to simplify your backend? Visit function.do to deploy your first function for free.