What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing is a method of delivering computing services—such as servers, storage, databases, networking, and software—over the internet. Instead of owning physical hardware or maintaining on-premises infrastructure, users access these resources remotely via the internet, paying only for what they use. This model shifts the responsibility of managing hardware, software updates, and scalability to cloud providers, allowing developers to focus on building applications. For example, a developer might use a cloud service like Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host a web application without needing to purchase or maintain physical servers.

Cloud services are typically categorized into three main models: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). IaaS provides virtualized computing resources like virtual machines and storage. AWS EC2 or Google Compute Engine are common examples, where developers can configure and manage servers remotely. PaaS offers a platform for developers to build and deploy applications without managing the underlying infrastructure—services like Heroku or Google App Engine handle server setup, scaling, and runtime environments. SaaS delivers fully managed software applications, such as Gmail or Microsoft 365, which users access via a web browser. Additionally, cloud deployment models include public clouds (shared resources, like AWS), private clouds (dedicated infrastructure for a single organization), and hybrid clouds (a mix of both).

For developers, cloud computing simplifies tasks like scaling applications, managing data storage, and automating deployments. For instance, a startup can use cloud auto-scaling to handle traffic spikes without manual intervention, or leverage serverless architectures (like AWS Lambda) to run code without provisioning servers. Cloud providers also offer managed databases (e.g., Amazon RDS) and machine learning tools (e.g., Google Vertex AI), reducing the need for in-house expertise. By using cloud services, teams can deploy globally distributed applications faster, collaborate remotely via shared environments, and integrate DevOps practices like continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines using cloud-native tools. This flexibility makes cloud computing a practical choice for modern software development.