In Java applications, concurrency issues can be difficult to reproduce and debug. Because work is scheduled nondeterministically across threads, the conditions that have led to an error in one execution of the program may not trigger the same issue the next time around. Exceptions that are silently handled—also known as swallowed exceptions—can also be challenging to debug because they typically do not leave any trace in the logs.
Most SREs and IT Ops manage Java applications without source code access or communication with AppDev teams. When applications have performance issues those SREs or IT Ops teams deploying and maintaining the infrastructure often have to prove that it is the application at fault and supply information to the app supplier which provides evidence of the issue.
The OpenTelemetry project provides many different components and instrumentations that support different languages and telemetry signals. However, new users often find it hard to pick the right ones and configure them properly for their specific use cases. For this reason, OpenTelemetry defines the concept of a distribution, which is a tailored and customized version of OpenTelemetry components. Here at Grafana Labs, we are all-in on OpenTelemetry.
Many server-side applications are written in Java and often process tens of millions of requests per day. Key applications in various domains like finance, healthcare, insurance and education are often Java-based. When these applications slow down or fail, they affect the user experience and in turn, reduce business revenue. Behind many web forms or form-like GUIs there will often be a Java application.