Serverless computing is a cloud computing execution model where the cloud provider manages the infrastructure and automatically allocates resources based on demand.

Key characteristics:
1. **No Server Management:**
    - Zero infrastructure maintenance
    - Automatic scaling
    - Pay-per-use billing

2. **Event-Driven:**
    - Function triggers
    - Automatic execution
    - Stateless operations

Example AWS Lambda function:
```javascript
exports.handler = async (event) => {
    try {
        const result = await processEvent(event);
        return {
            statusCode: 200,
            body: JSON.stringify(result)
        };
    } catch (error) {
        return {
            statusCode: 500,
            body: JSON.stringify({ error: error.message })
        };
    }
};
```