Microsoft Brings Java to Azure Functions

Microsoft is adding support for Java to Azure Functions. The company has announced a public preview of Java in Azure Functions for testing and experimenting. Microsoft has not announced a timeline for general availability.

Azure Functions allows users to run small pieces of code in the cloud to process data, integrate systems, work with the Internet of Things (IoT), and build simple APIs and microservices.

Microsoft recently re-architected the Azure Functions run time to add support for different programming languages. The company ported Azure Functions to .NET Core 2.0, which made the run time and Azure Functions Core Tools cross platform. Users can now run Core Tools on on Linux and macOS for debugging.

“Serverless provides a great model for accelerating app development, but developers want to do it using the programming languages and development tools of their choice. Ever since we first released Azure Functions, support for Java has been a top request,” said Nir Mashkowski Partner Director of Program Management, Azure App Service.

Mashkowski said that Java developers don’t need any new development tools for using Azure Functions. The newly released Maven plugin enables developers to create, build, and deploy Azure Functions from their existing Maven-enabled projects.