What is the primary use of Cloud Functions in GCP?

The primary use of Cloud Functions in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is to run code in response to events without the need for server management. This service follows a serverless architecture, which means that developers can focus solely on writing their functions without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. When specific events occur—such as changes in Cloud Storage, HTTP requests, or messages in a Pub/Sub topic—Cloud Functions can be triggered automatically to execute the specified code.

This model is highly efficient for building event-driven applications, optimizing performance and scalability automatically, as the cloud platform handles the provisioning of resources necessary to execute the function. This capability allows applications to respond quickly to changes and can flexibly scale based on the demand.

The other options, such as creating virtual machines, storing large amounts of data, or managing user access and roles, represent distinct services and functions within GCP that do not align with the event-driven execution model that is unique to Cloud Functions.