The Strange Time Limits of Serverless Functions

Serverless functions can’t run forever—and that’s intentional.

Most serverless platforms impose execution time limits ranging from seconds to minutes. This prevents runaway processes and enforces efficient design. Long-running tasks must be broken into smaller chunks or orchestrated via workflows. While limiting at first, it promotes resilience and fault tolerance. Systems become modular and restart-friendly by design.

Why This Matters

Time limits force better engineering practices. Inefficient code becomes obvious.

This encourages distributed workflows that recover gracefully from failure.

Did You Know?

Serverless functions have strict maximum execution durations.

Source

[AWS Lambda Limits, aws.amazon.com]

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