The emerging wave of cloud-native technology is taking over the software development world, and for a good reason. The cloud-native application supports developers to take advantage of the new and existing platforms and processes of the cloud system. Also, an enterprise can handle disruptive challenges with cloud-native apps.
The popularity of cloud-native apps are growing, and even the most renowned organizations such as Netflix, Pinterest, Uber, etc. are increasing their cloud-native abilities to avoid technological issues.
So when cloud-native has so much to give, can it dominate the development world? Can it be the future of app industries?
Let’s discuss ahead and find the answer!
Cloud-Native Application – A Quick Introduction
Before we move ahead, first, let’s gather some knowledge about what cloud-native applications are
Cloud-native is an advanced technology to build applications that use cloud computing as the base instead of an in-house server. So when you will build an app, you don’t have to invest in an in-house server to store it; instead, cloud-native gives you an amazing option to store the app on the cloud.
Besides, while developing software, you don’t have to worry about ‘where’, you would focus on ‘how’ as the cloud-native has a unique approach for app development than the traditional one that we are familiar with.
There are 3 major support pillars of cloud-native applications development:
Containers:
Individual part of the cloud-native app is encapsulated in a container. So whenever an application is run, everything it requires is in its own package.
Orchestration:
Each container is managed so that all the resources are optimized properly. Hence, it is handled automatically and doesn’t require any manual attention.
Microservices: These are just like small apps, and each app has its different purpose. A team of developers can easily handle microservices.
Polyglot: Every cloud-native app is built using a certain language or framework. This way, developers can take advantage of using diverse programming languages, frameworks, and runtime for discrete services.
Need of Cloud Native in your Enterprise
There are four major reasons to have Cloud Native for your app development enterprise:
- Advanced tools for Monitoring & Management
An app developer can use various tools for the auditing and monitoring of cloud-native apps. Also, platforms such as Datalog, AppDynamic, and Newrelic can become handy to check Microservices and containers.
Open Tracing and Zipkin are also great tools for debugging your app. And for log aggregation, use Splunk, Fluentd, and Elasticsearch.
- Auto-Scaling for Connectivity
Auto-scaling is the major reason why more and more software companies are switching to cloud-native. The piece of code where to apply the auto-scaling feature will scale-out without manual interrupt as the traffic spikes.
- Affordability of the Application Development
Another big reason to choose cloud-native is the cost factor. One can achieve consistency of tools and infrastructure by using specific cloud-native tools such as microservices. Hence, it includes low cost because of this factor and, as we all know, cloud-native application for an ‘open source’ model. You will not get pay-per-use costing time in milliseconds support in any other server. So cloud native is easy on your budget.
- Reliability
Any company would anticipate the utmost reliability from their software development platform. That’s exactly what you can expect from cloud-native applications. The microservice architecture and Kubernetes offer developers a robust and secure app production method that would bear faults without crashing. The self-healing property of cloud native applications make them special and the most reliable. Besides, one can easily move to a new data centre in the middle of failure. This automatically lowers failure chances and increases reliability on cloud-native.
Major Cloud-Native Applications for Software Development
Following are the major cloud-native applications:
Microservices
As we discussed earlier, microservices is the combination of small apps that work collaboratively to provide functionality to your system. Each microservice focuses on single functionality and contains limited APIs and boundaries, and managed by a small team of professionals. Hence, a single package of microservices can help you handle & control the multiple functionalities of your app.
Application Program Interfaces (APIs)
API works as connectors that unleash the functionality which other apps can use. API has this magical power to customize or extend an application without reaching or changing the code. It is the best way to ensure code security. API also helps developers to use the best functionality of other applications as well.
For example, Google Maps in the digital world. A developer can easily merge mapping functionality to any app by requesting geographic information through API. They simply just don’t develop a map from scratch to match the digital standards because API makes things easier. Great, isn’t it?
Software-defined Infrastructure & Security
Do you ever imagine if you could transform the hardware such as switches, plugs, dials, etc. into the app to get the virtual feel? It’s possible with advanced cloud-native application. This system considers the underlying infrastructure as the fuel and adapter to all the requirements. It gives you the freedom to automatically scale up or down the capacity, start & stop the services, and relocate the resources through the app. So nifty!
Do Cloud-Native Applications Hold the Future of App Development?
The obvious answer is ‘Yes.’
Cloud native application development brings so many continuous benefits to the table that a developer can shun half of their efforts required to develop an application that runs efficiently on the Internet. Its properties such as microservices offer an advanced level development experience.
But let’s just keep all the benefits aside and have a look at the potential challenges that a developer might face while using cloud-native for application development.
Data Storage in Cloud-Native Apps
When you have the power of serverless containers and functions in immutable infrastructure, the permanent storage might become insufficient. This could lead to continuous internal data disruption when the system or app is turned off. So cloud-native could lead to data storage issues as well.
Service Integration into App
Cloud native application development comes with a variety of services that might perplex a developer. They have to ensure that each service is sized accurately. They might even lower the number of services because these could convert into increased integration and complexity, which nobody wants in their app.
Complexity Working in Synergy
Cloud-native tools such as DevOps support developers or a team of developers to build, test, and deploy an app synergically, but it can become complex sometimes to work with one another.
Do all these challenges make cloud native applications any less? Nope!
Cloud-Native is an extraordinary and evolving technology that eases the app development process. Only the time and coming challenges will define if cloud native applications will change the way we develop apps. But for now, cloud-native is changing our work style and helping developers to build excellent apps inexpensively.
Final Words
The idea of serverless Cloud Native applications is to support an easy way to implement scalable and complex systems and provide huge storage for apps elements.
Containers ease up the way an app is distributed.
Microservices allow you to accurately structure your system.
You get security for your app, and any data disruption will not stop your app is guaranteed. And if you have decided to partner with a software company for cloud native services, you must also consider orchestration and docker as well to manage everything harmonically.
