Azure Functions Interview Questions and Answers for 10 years experience
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What are Azure Functions and how do they differ from other Azure compute services like VMs or App Services?
- Answer: Azure Functions are serverless compute services that let you run code without managing servers. Unlike VMs which require full OS management and App Services which require managing the application environment, Functions only require you to write and deploy your code. Functions are event-driven, scaling automatically based on demand, making them cost-effective for event-processing and background tasks. They offer a more granular and cost-efficient approach compared to always-on VMs or App Services for specific tasks.
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Explain the different trigger types available in Azure Functions.
- Answer: Azure Functions supports various triggers, including HTTP, Timer, Blob Storage, Queue Storage, Cosmos DB, Event Hubs, Service Bus, Event Grid, and more. Each trigger initiates function execution based on a specific event, such as an HTTP request, a timer interval, a new blob in storage, or a message in a queue. The choice of trigger depends on the function's purpose and the event source.
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Describe the different binding types in Azure Functions and give examples of each.
- Answer: Bindings simplify interaction with various Azure services. Input bindings provide data to functions, while output bindings send data to external services. Examples include: Input – Blob trigger (reads from blob storage), Queue trigger (reads from queue storage), HTTP request (reads from HTTP request). Output – Blob output (writes to blob storage), Queue output (writes to queue storage), Cosmos DB output (writes to Cosmos DB), Event Hub output (writes to Event Hub).
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How do you handle errors and exceptions in Azure Functions?
- Answer: Error handling involves try-catch blocks within the function code to catch specific exceptions. Application Insights can be integrated for monitoring and logging exceptions. Custom error handling logic can be implemented to retry failed operations or send notifications. Azure Functions also allows for configuring retry policies directly within the function configuration.
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Explain the concept of function app settings and how they are used.
- Answer: Function app settings are key-value pairs that configure the environment for your function app. They provide a way to store sensitive information like connection strings, API keys, and other configuration details securely without hardcoding them in your code. They are accessible within the function code using the `System.Environment` class.
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How do you deploy Azure Functions? Describe different deployment methods.
- Answer: Azure Functions can be deployed using several methods: zip deploy (manual upload of a zip file containing your code), Git deployment (continuous integration/continuous deployment from a Git repository), Visual Studio deployment (directly from Visual Studio), Azure CLI deployment (using Azure command-line interface), and ARM templates (for infrastructure-as-code deployments).
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What are Azure Function Consumption Plan and App Service Plan? When would you choose one over the other?
- Answer: Consumption plan is serverless; you pay only for the compute time used. App Service Plan provides always-on instances, offering predictable performance but incurring costs even when idle. Choose Consumption for event-driven functions with unpredictable workloads. Choose App Service Plan for functions requiring consistent performance and low latency, or for functions that need to be always available.
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Explain how to secure Azure Functions using Azure Active Directory.
- Answer: Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) can secure Functions through authentication and authorization. You can configure your functions to require authentication using Azure AD, restricting access based on user roles and permissions. This ensures only authorized users or applications can invoke your functions.
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How can you monitor and log the execution of Azure Functions?
- Answer: Application Insights is the primary monitoring tool for Azure Functions, providing metrics, logs, and traces. It allows you to track function executions, identify performance bottlenecks, and diagnose errors. Custom logging can be added to your function code to provide more detailed information.
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