Exploring Edge Computing with Cloudflare Workers

Introduction

Honestly, I was just trying to fix a stupidly slow page load time.

What I found instead was a whole new way to think about deploying code—closer to users, faster than fast, and surprisingly fun to mess around with.

So if you’ve ever thought:

“What even is edge computing?”

or

“Do I need to be some kind of cloud wizard to use Cloudflare Workers?”

Let me walk you through how I went from confused dev to edge enthusiast.

The Day I Realized My App Was the Problem

10:07 PM. Analytics open.

Users in Australia bouncing like I just Rickrolled them.

Turns out, my Node.js backend was living its best life in Virginia, USA. But Sydney users? They were waiting 1.2 seconds just to load product descriptions.

Then a friend asked:

“Have you tried Cloudflare Workers?”

My brain: “That sounds like an Avengers spinoff.”

So… What the Heck Is Edge Computing?

Here’s the gist:

• Traditional servers = far away (slow)
• Edge computing = run code close to users (fast)

Cloudflare Workers let you deploy JavaScript (or WASM/Rust) to 300+ global locations.

It’s like CDN meets backend. On steroids.

My First Worker (and Mild Panic)

I expected pain.

I got this:

addEventListener('fetch', event => {
  event.respondWith(
    new Response('Hello from the edge!', {
      headers: { 'content-type': 'text/plain' },
    })
  );
});

One deploy command later, I got a 30ms response time from my city.

I cackled. Loudly.

Real Use Case: API Proxy at the Edge

I had a weather app. Every user hit the API directly → rate limits died fast.

Solution?

• Cache API responses with Workers
• Transform data before sending to frontend
• Response time: 850ms → 80ms
• Third-party API usage: cut in half

Sometimes, it felt illegal. (It wasn’t.)

A (Brief, Not-Boring) History of Cloudflare Workers

• Cloudflare started as a CDN
• 2017: Cloudflare Workers launched
• Since then, they added:
  • KV (Key-Value storage)
  • Durable Objects (state at the edge)
  • R2 (S3-compatible object storage, no egress fees)

Now? It’s a full-on platform. Minimal dev pain included.

What Shocked Me (in a Good Way)

1. Deploys in seconds – No build drama
2. Global performance – Feels instant anywhere
3. Built-in security – Isolated, no VMs
4. Billed by usage – Perfect for indie budgets

Gotchas (Let’s Be Honest)

• CPU Time Limits – 10ms (or 30ms paid)
  
  Not ideal for video transcoding.

• No filesystem – Use KV, R2, or external APIs

• Debugging – Logging can be tricky, especially with cold starts

Despite all that? It taught me to write leaner, smarter code.

What You Can Actually Build

• API Proxies & Gateways
• A/B Testing Engines
• Dynamic HTML Injectors
• Authentication Services
• Entire static or dynamic blogs
• Real-time content transformers

Basically? If it fits in ~10ms logic, you can probably build it.

How It Changed My Dev Mindset

Before:

“Where’s my server deployed? What’s the cold start time? How much will this scale?”

After Workers:

“How fast can I serve this from the closest edge node?”

Now I think in proximity. In speed. In user-first logic.

Final Thoughts

Cloudflare Workers didn’t just speed up my app.

They reignited my joy for web dev.

• Insanely fast
• Surprisingly simple
• Edge-first mindset

If you’ve got global users, or just hate slow loads—give it a shot.

# Getting started:
npm install -g wrangler
wrangler init my-worker
wrangler dev

Welcome to the edge.

// You’re gonna love it out here.