Java in the clouds. How cloud applications are conquering the world and why they need Java

We continue our series of materials on the use of Java in the hottest and trending niches of the IT market. In previous articles, we have already talked about the reasons for the popularity of Java in the Internet of Things (IoT) and examined why not a single full-fledged Big Data project can do without it . Next up is the next megatrend niche - clouds and cloud services. “If people ask me what cloud computing and cloud services are, I try not to get into the thicket of complex definitions, but simply say that the cloud is a way to better manage your business.” Marc Benioff, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Salesforce.

Cloud computing. Why “having your head in the clouds” is cool

To begin with, it must be said that now cloud services, at least in the West and in developed countries, are no longer a fashionable IT trend, like, for example, the Internet of Things or artificial intelligence (AI). “Clouds” were a fashionable trend about ten years ago. Now cloud services are our harsh (or not so harsh) IT reality and an integral part of most business processes. But this, of course, doesn’t make cloud technologies any less cool. And it will be difficult for a programmer who would like to work in large companies and on serious projects to do without knowledge of clouds. Today, many of us use cloud services all the time without even thinking about it - for example, booking hotels online, ordering and paying for food delivery from restaurants, or simply scrolling through our Facebook news feed. Companies around the world are actively moving to cloud services because it is more convenient and allows them to improve productivity along with simplifying many business processes. What specific advantages does the introduction of cloud services give to companies and why has business been increasingly “flying to the cloud” for several years now? Let's briefly go through the main points.

• Reduce costs and save money

  For any business, profitability comes first, and the use of clouds can significantly reduce costs. As a result, all large companies, albeit at different speeds, are moving towards transferring all tasks that can be transferred there to the clouds. Of course, you can do without the need to own and maintain a huge physical IT infrastructure, along with staffing to maintain it.

• Reliability and high uptime

  Today, most major cloud service providers manage to maintain the highest level of uptime - 99.99%. Businesses, of course, cannot but like such reliability, because it allows them to ensure virtually uninterrupted operation of their resources and applications.

• Availability and fast scalability

  Thanks to the cloud, startups and small companies have access to the same level of technical resources as large corporations. And they can quickly scale their business with minimal infrastructure costs. This has already had and continues to have a huge impact on the market in general, and on the IT industry in particular. Increasingly, we see small startups emerging and successfully competing with the giants, surpassing them in innovation and mobility. This is happening not least due to the spread of accessible clouds around the world.

“Cloud computing expands possibilities tremendously. Now anyone with internet access and a credit card can run and manage applications using the resources of modern data centers. Thanks to the cloud, innovation is faster and cheaper.” Jamal Mazhar, founder and CEO of Kaavo.

How is Java used in cloud computing?

Java is the most popular language for developing enterprise cloud applications, according to a survey of more than 600 IT professionals worldwide by the non-profit Cloud Foundry Foundation. It was chosen by 57% of experts who use cloud computing in their work. If we talk about why Java is popular in the cloud environment (in addition to other trending niches), the reasons for such popularity will be the same as in the case of other areas, namely, simplicity, adaptability, platform independence and reliability of Java . The ability to run the same program on different systems and the widest selection of libraries make Java very popular and in demand in the cloud. “The cloud equalizes opportunities for companies of all sizes. Clouds are for everyone. Clouds are democracy.” Marc Benioff, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Salesforce.

Popular Java Tools for Cloud Development

Now let's take a quick look at the most popular tools for developing Java applications in the cloud.

1. Google App Engine

   Google App Engine makes it easy to deploy and run standard Java web applications using Servlet (Servlet is a Java interface whose implementation extends the functionality of the server). App Engine applications automatically scale based on incoming traffic. Google App Engine also supports a huge number of different features, including load balancing, microservices, authorization, relational and non-relational databases for different tasks and volumes of information, memcache, traffic sharing, logging, search, versioning, deployment and rollback, as well as security scan.

2. Cloud Foundry

   Cloud Foundry is an open source cloud computing platform offered as a service (PaaS model, platform as a service). It is run by the Cloud Foundry Foundation. Cloud Foundry was originally developed by VMware, then moved to Pivotal Software, but returned to VMware at the end of 2019 after it acquired Pivotal.

   Cloud Foundry supports the full development lifecycle, from the initial stages through all stages of product testing and deployment. Thus, Cloud Foundry is well suited to a continuous delivery strategy. Users have access to one or more spaces, which typically correspond to stages in the development lifecycle. For example, an application that is ready for QA testing can be deployed in the QA space of this project. At the same time, different users may have different access rights to different spaces within the same project.

3. Oracle Java Cloud Service

   Oracle Java Cloud Service (JCS) is part of the enterprise cloud business environment Oracle Cloud, which offers self-service business applications delivered in an integrated development and implementation platform with the tools to quickly expand and create new services.

   Oracle Java Cloud Service allows users to quickly create and configure an Oracle WebLogic Server domain and configure a Java EE application environment without having to worry about setting up infrastructure or platform details themselves.

   JCS supports the latest web technologies and offers customers extensive configuration and integration options for any web applications, almost unlimited scaling capabilities, automatic load balancing, and a number of other convenient features, such as automatic updates of all systems and guarantees of data and application integrity with regular backups.

4. AWS SDK for Java

   Amazon provides the full set of tools, documentation, and code samples you need to develop secure, reliable, and scalable Java applications on the AWS cloud.

   Eclipse Java IDE users can get started with the SDK using the AWS Toolkit for Eclipse and IDEA. AWS Toolkit for Eclipse is a plug-in for the Eclipse Java IDE that makes it easy to create, deploy, and debug Java applications using Amazon Web Services.

   Amazon also provides a dedicated set of APIs for many AWS services, including Amazon S3, Amazon EC2, DynamoDB, and others. The single download includes the AWS Java library, code examples, and documentation.

5. Jelastic

   Jelastic (short for Java Elastic) is a hosting platform for Java and PHP (as well as Node, Ruby, Python and Go) with the ability to run and scale Java and PHP applications without manually provisioning the server.

   One of the important features of Jelastic is the payment model for the service. Unlike standard cloud hosting services with a fixed fee, Jelastic users pay only for the resources they consume, and the cost of the service varies every hour.

   Today, the Jelastic platform is quickly becoming the standard for cloud service providers around the world and gaining popularity in the enterprise market, providing a superior turnkey cloud environment at a fraction of the cost of existing virtualization solutions.

6. Heroku Java

   Heroku is a cloud-based PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) platform based on a managed container model, with integrated data services and a powerful ecosystem for deploying and running modern applications.

   Heroku supports a range of programming languages, including Java, Node.js, Scala, Clojure, Python, PHP, Ruby and Go. The service makes it easy to deploy and scale Java applications in the cloud.

7. Spring Cloud

   Spring Cloud is a set of tools from Pivotal that provides solutions for building reliable cloud applications. This framework makes application development easier by providing solutions to many common problems encountered when moving to a distributed environment.

   “Thanks to the cloud, individuals and small businesses can create high-end, enterprise-class services at minimal cost with just the snap of their fingers.”

   Roy Stephan, founder and CEO of PierceMatrix.

Epilogue

As we see, cloud computing is another area of ​​the IT market where the future lies and where Java is not just used, but is often the main language. Without our beloved Java, it will be difficult for many companies to imagine organizing technological processes. And with the rapid transition of businesses and organizations to the cloud, the demand for Java programmers who not only speak this language, but also know how to use cloud tools and technologies, is increasing.