The Software Architects' Newsletter June 2023

A monthly overview of things you need to know as an architect or aspiring architect. [InfoQ]( The Software Architects' Newsletter June 2023 [View in browser]( Welcome to the InfoQ Software Architects’ Newsletter! Each month, we bring you essential news and experience from industry peers on emerging patterns and technologies. This month, we focus on "Edge Computing: The Evolution of the Decentralized Cloud". These core topics span the entire "diffusion of innovation" graph in our [2023 Software Architecture and Design InfoQ Trends Report](. We see increasing adoption of decentralized applications (dApps), Wasm at the edge, and correctly built distributed systems. Key challenges remain in this space, including matching user requirements with project goals (i.e., determining if decentralization is a common need, as seen with the inability of Blockchain to become mainstream), assembling and using edge development toolchains, and running and observing decentralized applications. News What Is Edge Computing? In this recently updated introductory Baeldung tutorial, the [edge computing]( paradigm is explored in detail: its definition, benefits, the various edge computing platforms available, and key design issues. Interested readers can continue learning more via the 2020 [InfoQ "Cloud Edge" article series]( and the 2022 [InfoQ Live]( panel, "[Building Applications from Edge to Cloud](". QCon New York 2023 Day Three: Living on the Edge In this [detailed summary]( of day three from the recent [QCon New York]( conference, Mike Redlich provides an overview of Erica Pisani's talk, "[Living on the Edge](". Edge computing is not a new concept, but in the past few years, we have seen powerful tools made more readily available at the edge from providers such as Cloudflare, Netlify, and Vercel. Pisani, a senior software engineer at Netlify, presented the “edge” as data centers that live outside of a cloud vendor's availability zones (data centers). An "edge function" can be executed in one of these data centers, and "data on the edge" is cached/stored/accessed at one of these data centers. Building systems that use edge functions and embrace related edge principles can improve performance, especially if a user is far from a particular availability zone. Apache Pulsar 3.0 Delivers a New LTS Version and Efficiency Improvements The Apache Software Foundation has released [version 3.0 (LTS) of Apache Pulsar](. Apache Pulsar is a high-performance, multi-tenant messaging and streaming platform with support for multiple clusters, low latency, seamless scalability, guaranteed message delivery with persistent message storage provided by Apache BookKeeper, and serverless connector frameworks for data processing and connectivity. Azure Cosmos DB Integration with Vercel Now in Public Preview Microsoft recently announced the public preview of the [Vercel and Azure Cosmos DB integration]( allowing developers to easily create Vercel applications with an already configured Azure Cosmos DB database. [Azure Cosmos DB]( is a globally distributed, multi-model database service provided by Microsoft that offers high scalability, low latency, and comprehensive data consistency across multiple data models and APIs. [Vercel]( is a cloud platform that simplifies the deployment and hosting of web applications, providing developers with a way to deliver fast and scalable websites. By integrating Vercel and Cosmos DB, developers can connect their web applications with a managed global distributed database hosted in Azure. Microsoft Azure Event Grid MQTT Protocol Support and Pull Message Delivery Are Now in Public Preview Microsoft recently announced the public preview of [bi-directional communication via MQTT version 5 and MQTT version 3.1.1 protocols]( for its Azure Event Grid service. Azure Event Grid is Microsoft's cloud-based event-routing service that enables customers to create, manage, and route events from various sources to different destinations or subscribers. It allows them to build data pipelines with device data, integrate applications, and build event-driven serverless architectures. MQTT support allows customers to publish and subscribe to messages for Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. Sponsored [Microsoft]( [Azure App Service 101: Moving your .NET Application to the Cloud]( Let’s face it, moving a line-of-business application that’s been designed to run on-prem - or even on a virtual machine - to the cloud can be intimidating. Discover how Azure App Service makes an excellent first step for a .NET application’s cloud journey. Learn more about this topic in the article "[Start Your Cloud Journey with Azure App Service](", sponsored by Microsoft Case Study A Comprehensive Guide to Building Event-Driven Architecture on Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud In a [recent InfoQ article]( by Boris Zaikin, you'll find guidance on building systems that implement an event-driven architecture using Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud resources. Also provided are unique architecture examples that incorporate the AWS EventBridge, SNS, Azure Service Bus, Eventgrid, and Google Cloud Eventarc. These examples can help you better grasp the resources’ concepts and enable you to kick-start building your own architecture using an event-driven approach. Azure Event Grid and Google Cloud Eventarc are event-driven platforms that enable event-based communication and workflows between services and applications. They support decoupled and scalable architectures, with Event Grid provided by Azure and Eventarc provided by Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Azure Monitor and Cloud Monitoring are comprehensive monitoring services that collect and analyze telemetry data from various sources. AWS Simple Notification Service (SNS) and Azure Event Grid are managed notification services that disseminate messages from a single source application to multiple subscribers. SNS is suitable for building simple notification architectures, while Azure Event Grid is more suitable for complex event-driven architectures. Azure Service Bus and AWS MQ are fully managed messaging services that support pub/sub and queue-based messaging patterns. Azure Service Bus is a more feature-rich messaging service than AWS MQ, offering advanced features such as message sessions and auto-forwarding. This content is an excerpt from a recent InfoQ article by Boris Zaikin, "[A Comprehensive Guide to Building Event-Driven Architecture on Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud](". To get notifications when InfoQ publishes content on these topics, follow "[Edge Computing](", "[Distributed Systems](", and "[Cloud Computing](" on InfoQ. Missed a newsletter? You can find all of the [previous issues]( on InfoQ. Sponsored [ScyllaDB]( [SQL to NoSQL Architectural Differences]( When and how to migrate data from SQL to NoSQL are matters of much debate. It can certainly be a daunting task, but when your SQL systems hit architectural limits or your cloud provider expenses skyrocket, it’s probably time to consider a move. Read this white paper to learn about the architectural differences between SQL and NoSQL, the tradeoffs between flexibility, scale and cost, and considerations for successful SQL to NoSQL migrations. Learn more about this topic in the eBook "[SQL to NoSQL: Architecture Differences and Considerations for Migration](", sponsored by ScyllaDB Upcoming events QCon: For practitioners, by practitioners [QCon SF (Oct 2-6): Future-proof your skills and level up on emerging practices]( Get clarity on emerging patterns. Learn modern practices. Evolve your skills with hands-on workshops. Attend QCon San Francisco conference (Oct 2-6). Or take workshop for under $920. [Book early bird tickets before June 27](. Senior software developers rely on the InfoQ community to keep ahead of the adoption curve. One of the main reasons software architects and engineers tell us they keep coming back to InfoQ is because they trust the information provided and selected by their peers. We’ve been helping software development teams adopt new technologies and practices for over 15 years through InfoQ articles, news items, podcasts, tech talks, trends reports, and QCon software development conferences. 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