Overview
This lecture introduces Azure App Service, explaining its features, deployment workflow, supported languages, CI/CD integration, the distinction between App Service and App Service Plan, and demonstrates deploying a React app.
Introduction to Azure App Service
- Azure App Service is a fully managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) for hosting web apps, APIs, and mobile backends.
- It abstracts infrastructure management, handling hardware, networking, patching, scaling, and load balancing.
Behind the Scenes: Deployment Workflow
- Uploaded app code is stored in the app service instance under the
home/site/wwwroot folder.
- Files are served to users via the app service's public DNS endpoint.
- The app is managed and resourced by an associated App Service Plan, defining compute, scaling, and pricing.
Supported Languages and Frameworks
- Azure App Service supports Node.js, Java, Python, PHP, Docker, and static content (HTML, CSS, JS).
- Front-end frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue are supported.
Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)
- App Service allows automatic deployments from GitHub, Azure DevOps, Bitbucket, FTP, or manual ZIP uploads.
- CI/CD integration simplifies version control and delivery workflows.
App Service vs App Service Plan
- App Service Plan supplies infrastructure resources (CPU, memory, scaling, region).
- App Service is your deployed application running on the resources from the App Service Plan.
Hands-on Demo: Deploying a React App
- Create a Resource Group for organizing services.
- Set up an App Service Plan with a chosen region, OS, and pricing tier (e.g., free F1).
- Create an App Service (web app), configure runtime (e.g., Node 20), and map it to the Service Plan.
- Upload the app's build folder to the
wwwroot directory using Advanced Tools (Kudu).
- Access the deployed app via the provided public domain.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) — a cloud service model delivering hardware and software tools over the internet.
- Resource Group — a container in Azure that holds related resources for an application.
- App Service Plan — defines the underlying infrastructure and pricing for Azure App Services.
- CI/CD — processes for continuous integration and deployment to automate application delivery.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Practice deploying a sample web app using Azure App Service.
- Review CI/CD integration steps with your preferred code repository.
- Explore more Azure compute services in the next chapter.