Development
What is edge computing in web development?
Edge computing in web development runs server-side code on CDN nodes geographically close to the user instead of a single origin server. Platforms like Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Edge Functions, and Deno Deploy execute lightweight functions at 200+ global locations. This reduces latency to under 50ms for most users and enables per-request personalization without the cold starts of traditional serverless.
Key Considerations
- Edge runtimes use a restricted JavaScript API (no Node.js fs, limited npm compatibility) — verify your dependencies work
- Best suited for request routing, authentication, A/B testing, geolocation, and API response transformation
- Database access from the edge requires edge-compatible databases (Turso, Neon, PlanetScale, Cloudflare D1)
- Cold start times are near-zero (under 5ms) compared to 200–1000ms for traditional Lambda/Cloud Functions
- Not a replacement for heavy computation — edge functions have CPU time limits (typically 10–50ms)