Edge computing is the practice of processing data and running application code at locations physically close to users or devices, such as CDN points of presence, rather than only in a central data center.
Why it matters
Distance adds latency, since signals take time to travel. Running logic at the edge reduces round trips, cuts load on origin servers and can keep working when the origin is slow.
Common uses include caching, redirects, authentication checks, image resizing and personalization. Edge environments usually impose tight limits on run time, memory and available libraries.
Example
A visitor in Mumbai requests a page. An edge function in a nearby location checks a cookie, rewrites the URL and serves a cached copy, so the request never travels to an origin server in another continent.
Common mistakes
- Moving database-heavy logic to the edge while the database stays in one region, which adds latency.
- Forgetting that edge code is replicated, so state must be stored carefully.
- Assuming edge and CDN are the same; a CDN mainly caches, edge compute also executes code.
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