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Why we need Queues - and what they do when no one is watching

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Tags programming software-architecture app-development queues

Black Friday’s chaos is a perfect example of how message queues can transform a fragile system into a resilient one, smoothing out traffic spikes and preventing system crashes. By Jakub Slys.

This blog post explains the core function of message queues in distributed systems, illustrating how they decouple producers and consumers to handle uneven workloads. It highlights the problem of system overload during peak demand (like Black Friday) and how queues act as a buffer, absorbing excess requests and preventing failures. The article targets developers and DevOps engineers interested in understanding how to build more robust and scalable applications. Essentially, queues are a critical tool for managing asynchronous communication and improving system stability.

Key Points:

  • Decoupling: Message queues separate producers and consumers, allowing them to operate independently.
  • Buffering: They absorb traffic spikes, preventing system overload.
  • Asynchronous Communication: They enable non-blocking operations, improving responsiveness.
  • Scalability: Consumer groups allow scaling out processing capacity.
  • Fault Tolerance: Queues ensure messages are not lost even if consumers are temporarily unavailable.
  • Idempotency: Producers and consumers need to handle potential message duplicates.
  • Event-Driven Architecture: Queues are a foundational element of this architectural style.

Ultimately, the article argues that understanding message queues is essential for building modern, scalable, and fault-tolerant distributed systems, moving beyond simply handling immediate requests to embracing a more reactive and resilient approach to software design. Nice one!

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Deep dive in Java vs C++ performance

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Tags programming performance app-development web-development

This article compares Java and C++ performance, debunking myths and revealing Java’s strengths in memory management, execution speed, and optimizations. Find out why Java might be the unsung hero of high-frequency trading and server applications. By Johnny’s Software Lab LLC.

The main observations in teh article:

  • Java’s garbage collection and compaction improve memory locality and reduce fragmentation.
  • Java’s high-tier JIT-compiled code can match C++’s performance, but warm-up time and mixed code execution can slow down Java.
  • Java’s latency is less predictable than C++ due to GC pauses and mixed code execution, but it can achieve low latency with proper tuning.
  • Java’s runtime profiling and deoptimization checks enable aggressive, speculative optimizations.
  • Java can emit more efficient instructions based on the runtime environment.
  • The choice between Java and C++ depends on the specific use case and requirements

You will read about valuable insights into Java’s performance capabilities, challenging the notion that C++ is always superior. It highlights Java’s strengths in memory management and optimizations, making a strong case for its use in specific scenarios like high-frequency trading and long-running server applications. The article represents a significant step towards demystifying Java’s performance and encouraging informed language choices based on specific use cases.

The author concludes that Java and C++ have their strengths and weaknesses. While C++ excels in predictable latency and resource efficiency, Java shines in long-running server applications and high-frequency trading systems. The choice between the two depends on the specific use case and requirements. Good read!

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Scaling real-time video on AWS

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Tags aws devops cicd app-development web-development

Dive into the core protocols powering WebRTC, exploring how SDP, ICE, and DTLS work together to enable secure, real-time communication in production environments. Author works with the engineering team of a global live-streaming platform, and recently, we built a planet-scale WebRTC Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU) on AWS using Kubernetes to keep end-to-end latency below 150 ms (P95 = 140 ms) even across continents. By Oleksii Bondar.

The main learning article provides:

  • SDP facilitates session negotiation between peers.
  • ICE handles NAT traversal using STUN and TURN servers.
  • DTLS ensures secure media stream encryption.
  • Protocols are crucial for production-grade WebRTC applications.
  • Implementation requires attention to scalability and performance.
  • Security best practices are essential for real-time communication.

This article offers a valuable technical overview of the core protocols underpinning WebRTC, providing essential insights for developers and engineers. By elucidating the workings of SDP, ICE, and DTLS, it equips readers with the knowledge to build robust, scalable, and secure real-time communication systems. The detailed exploration of practical implementation challenges makes it a significant resource for advancing WebRTC applications in production environments. Good read!

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Automating stateful apps with Kubernetes Operators

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Tags kubernetes devops cicd app-development

Automating stateful apps with Kubernetes Operators simplifies management of complex workloads by handling critical tasks like scaling, backup and failover automatically. This reduces downtime and human errors that are common in manual deployment processes. By Keval Bhogayata.

Kubernetes controllers are mostly applicable when it comes to managing simple apps. But when dealing with complex or stateful apps, they have limitations. These native controllers cannot automate application-specific operations and workflows, making it difficult to manage tasks like database provisioning, upgrades, and failover reliably.

In this blog post you will also find information on:

  • Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs)
  • Controllers
  • Reconciliation Loop
  • Reconciler Function

While Operators automate many tasks, teams still need robust monitoring and alerting solutions to ensure apps are working as expected. Observability tools provide the visibility needed into app performance and stability that bridges automation with assurance. By integrating observability with Operators, Kubernetes can truly become a resilient platform. Excellent read!

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Why Apache Flink is not going anywhere

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Tags apache data-science big-data devops software-architecture

Flink’s complexity stems from supporting a variety of use cases and having a rich set of features, but can be simplified with proper tooling. By Yaroslav Tkachenk.

The article covers these topics:

  • Flink’s complexity comes primarily from supporting many different use cases (analytics, integration, ETL) and having a large feature set that enables these capabilities.
  • The complexity is manageable with proper tools like the Flink Kubernetes Operator which simplifies deployment and management.
  • Focusing on specific workflows can minimize Flink’s complexity by not using all its features at once.
  • While Flink requires more effort upfront to learn and deploy compared to proprietary solutions, its richness of capabilities far surpasses any one-size fits all tool.
  • The claims that Flink is “complex” are overblown considering other tools also have complexity, especially when supporting a wide range of use cases.

Flink is not going anywhere due to its rich feature set and support for a wide range of data streaming use cases, but requires proper tools like the Kubernetes Operator and focused workflows to minimize complexity compared to proprietary solutions. While the claims that Flink is "complex" are overblown considering other tools also have their own complexities, its richness far surpasses any one-size fits all tool for data processing. Nice one!

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Post-deployment tests: Your safety net after the code shipswhy apache flink is not going anywhere

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Tags devops cicd programming software

Automating post-deployment testing with GitHub Actions and Playwright provides rapid feedback, automatic rollbacks, and increased production confidence. By Türkçe Yazılar.

Tou will read about a robust post-deployment testing strategy using GitHub Actions and Playwright to ensure system health in production. It automates tests against the live environment after deployment, catching environment-specific issues, third-party service failures, performance problems, and configuration drift. The setup includes immediate Slack notifications for success or failure, and automatic rollback capabilities with Vercel integration.

The main points presented are:

  • Why post-deployment tests matter
  • Setting up GitHub actions
  • What about the tests, what and how?
  • The real value: Fast feedback and automatic recovery

This article provides a highly practical and valuable approach to post-deployment testing. The combination of GitHub Actions, Playwright, and Vercel’s API offers a compelling solution for automating critical checks and ensuring production stability. It represents incremental progress on existing CI/CD practices but significantly enhances confidence by incorporating real-world test execution. Its simplicity and effectiveness make it highly applicable across various development teams. Good read!

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AWS Lambda enhances event processing with provisioned mode for SQS event-source mapping

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Tags aws serverless queues messaging app-development

Provisioned mode for SQS ESM enables dedicated resources (event pollers) that scale up to 1000 per minute to handle traffic spi kes and low latency processing, maintaining up to 20K concurrency. This improves performance and responsiveness of event-driven apps, making it a viable option for high throughput scenarios. By Micah Walter.

The article points out these improvements with new integration:

  • 3x faster scaling (1K per minute)
  • Up to 20K concurrency (16x higher capacity)
  • Configurable minimum/maximum pollers
  • Low latency processing during traffic spikes

Provisioned mode represents a significant advancement in the capabilities of SQS ESM for Lambda functions. The dedicated event pollers provide 3x faster scaling and up to 16x higher capacity, enabling developers to build highly scalable, responsive event-driven applications with precise control over resource usage. The configurable minimum/maximum pollers allow optimization of costs during low traffic periods while maintaining consistent performance. With these improvements, provisioned mode opens new possibilities for high throughput Lambda workloads that require predictable, sub-second processing times even during traffic spikes. Good read!

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Laravel optimization: The complete performance guide for faster application

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Tags performance php web-development app-development

This article provides a comprehensive guide to optimizing Laravel applications for speed and performance. It covers caching strategies, database query optimization, server-level configurations, and hosting considerations. By implementing these techniques, developers can reduce load times, enhance scalability, and improve user experience. By Carrie Smaha.

The main points in this article:

  • Implement eager loading to avoid N+1 query problems.
  • Optimize database queries with select statements, limiting results, and using raw SQL where appropriate.
  • Use caching strategies like route, config, view, and session caching effectively.
  • Leverage InMotion Hosting’s Redis for fast data storage and sessions.
  • Employ server-level optimizations such as OPcache and PHP-FPM on VPS and dedicated plans.
  • Utilize tools like Debugbar and Telescope for monitoring and diagnosing performance issues.

This guide underscores that while Laravel provides powerful tools for application development, achieving optimal performance requires a holistic approach encompassing both code optimization and infrastructure tuning. By implementing the outlined strategies and leveraging InMotion Hosting’s capabilities, developers can ensure their applications are not only fast but also scalable and resilient to future growth. You will also get further

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How I solved a distributed queue problem after 15 years

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Tags messaging queues software-architecture distributed web-development app-development

Reddit’s early use of RabbitMQ highlighted the critical need for robust, durable task queues to handle high-volume, asynchronous operations – a lesson that continues to resonate in modern distributed systems. By DBOS.

This article details Reddit’s experience with a distributed queue architecture using RabbitMQ, exposing vulnerabilities related to data loss and workflow interruptions due to system failures. The core problem was the lack of durability within the queue – meaning tasks were lost if workers crashed or queues went down. The solution involved adopting “durable queues” which checkpoint workflows to a persistent store (like Postgres), enabling recovery from failures and improved observability, ultimately leading to more reliable task execution.

Some key points and takeaways:

  • Durable Queues: Employ persistent storage (e.g., Postgres) as both the message broker and backend for task queues.
  • Workflow Checkpointing: Enable recovery from failures by storing and resuming tasks from their last completed state.
  • Improved Observability: Provide detailed logs and metrics for monitoring workflow status in real-time.
  • Tradeoffs: Durable queues offer higher reliability but may have lower throughput compared to traditional key-value stores like Redis.

This article represents a significant evolution in distributed task queueing, moving beyond simple scalability to prioritize resilience and data integrity. While the specific implementation details may vary, the core principles of durable queues – checkpointing, persistence, and observability – are increasingly vital for building robust and reliable systems in today’s complex environments. This isn’t just incremental progress; it addresses a fundamental weakness in earlier architectures, offering a more dependable approach to managing asynchronous workflows. Nice one!

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A gentle introduction to event driven architecture in Python, Flask and Kafka

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Tags cloud messaging queues software-architecture python

A Gentle Introduction to Event Driven Architecture in Python, Flask and Kafka. In today’s fast-paced and scalable application development landscape, event-driven architecture (EDA) has emerged as a powerful pattern for building systems that are decoupled, reactive, and highly extensible. By Sefik Ilkin Serengil.

Event-driven architecture is a pattern for building systems that are flexible, resilient, and highly extensible. By using events to communicate between services, EDA promotes scalability, observability, and maintainability. This article demonstrates how to implement an event-driven system in Python and Flask using Kafka as a message broker.

The article dives into:

  • Key concepts in Event Driven Architecture
    • Event
    • Producer
    • Consumer
    • Broker
  • More reasonable in Python
  • Common tools and technologies
  • Real-life example scenario
  • Traditional approach vs. event-driven approach

The article concludes that event-driven architecture represents a shift towards flexible, scalable, and resilient system designs. By leveraging tools like Kafka, developers can decouple services, enable parallel processing, and gain better visibility into data flow, ultimately leading to improved maintainability and fault tolerance. The source code is available on GitHub, with instructions provided in the Readme file for running the service locally. Nice one!

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