---
date: 2020-11-26
id: 411125af-adb2-4f21-b3bb-99ffdf74a447
title: ephemeral
---

# Origin

Greek ephemeros "lasting only a day".

# Definition

The opposite of persistant.

# Examples

## RAM

-   RAM is ephemeral whereas hard disk storage is persistant.

## Data structures

Data structures are ephemeral because properties can be mutated and
there's no way to get back the original object

``` javascript
const dinner = {
    main: 'turkey',
    side: 'potatoes'
}

dinner.side = 'potatoes'

console.log(dinner) // { main: 'turkey', side: 'potatoes' }
```

## Cloud computing

-   AWS Lambda
-   Google Cloud Functions