Using global scoped variables

Demonstrate how to minimize the memory footprint of reusable variables by leveraging global scope.

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For detailed documentation that includes this code sample, see the following:

Code sample

Go

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// h is in the global (instance-wide) scope.
var h string

// init runs during package initialization. So, this will only run during an
// an instance's cold start.
func init() {
	h = heavyComputation()
	functions.HTTP("ScopeDemo", ScopeDemo)
}

// ScopeDemo is an example of using globally and locally
// scoped variables in a function.
func ScopeDemo(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
	l := lightComputation()
	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Global: %q, Local: %q", h, l)
}

Java

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import com.google.cloud.functions.HttpFunction;
import com.google.cloud.functions.HttpRequest;
import com.google.cloud.functions.HttpResponse;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.PrintWriter;
import java.util.Arrays;

public class Scopes implements HttpFunction {
  // Global (instance-wide) scope
  // This computation runs at instance cold-start.
  // Warning: Class variables used in functions code must be thread-safe.
  private static final int INSTANCE_VAR = heavyComputation();

  @Override
  public void service(HttpRequest request, HttpResponse response)
      throws IOException {
    // Per-function scope
    // This computation runs every time this function is called
    int functionVar = lightComputation();

    var writer = new PrintWriter(response.getWriter());
    writer.printf("Instance: %s; function: %s", INSTANCE_VAR, functionVar);
  }

  private static int lightComputation() {
    int[] numbers = new int[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 };
    return Arrays.stream(numbers).sum();
  }

  private static int heavyComputation() {
    int[] numbers = new int[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 };
    return Arrays.stream(numbers).reduce((t, x) -> t * x).getAsInt();
  }
}

Node.js

To authenticate to Cloud Run, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

const functions = require('@google-cloud/functions-framework');

// TODO(developer): Define your own computations
const {lightComputation, heavyComputation} = require('./computations');

// Global (instance-wide) scope
// This computation runs once (at instance cold-start)
const instanceVar = heavyComputation();

/**
 * HTTP function that declares a variable.
 *
 * @param {Object} req request context.
 * @param {Object} res response context.
 */
functions.http('scopeDemo', (req, res) => {
  // Per-function scope
  // This computation runs every time this function is called
  const functionVar = lightComputation();

  res.send(`Per instance: ${instanceVar}, per function: ${functionVar}`);
});

Python

To authenticate to Cloud Run, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

import time

import functions_framework


# Placeholder
def heavy_computation():
    return time.time()


# Placeholder
def light_computation():
    return time.time()


# Global (instance-wide) scope
# This computation runs at instance cold-start
instance_var = heavy_computation()


@functions_framework.http
def scope_demo(request):
    """
    HTTP Cloud Function that declares a variable.
    Args:
        request (flask.Request): The request object.
        <http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/1.0/api/#flask.Request>
    Returns:
        The response text, or any set of values that can be turned into a
        Response object using `make_response`
        <http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/1.0/api/#flask.Flask.make_response>.
    """

    # Per-function scope
    # This computation runs every time this function is called
    function_var = light_computation()
    return f"Instance: {instance_var}; function: {function_var}"

What's next

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