Building Software Reliability with Distributed Tracing
Most developers believe that building reliable software involves writing good code, implementing enough testing, and using as many proven architecture patterns as possible. The assumption is that building things this way equals creating a flawless system. Sadly, in the software world, this is not true. Software reliability is not the same as software correctness. You may write good code, implement enough testing, and use as many proven architecture patterns as possible to end up with software deemed correct. But, the code may still blow up straight on the customer’s face.
Building software reliability is something else entirely. It requires developers to look at the code, not from the perspective of what it is supposed to do but what the code is effectively doing, with little room for guessing. Distributed tracing is a technique that developers can use to accomplish this.
This talk will discuss how distributed tracing can positively change how you and your team deliver customers’ software. After all, five-nines of availability don’t matter if users aren’t happy. It will highlight which techniques with distributed tracing bring value, what to focus on and what avoid, and the most common challenges. By the end, you will know everything you need to adopt distributed tracing as a practice that promotes software reliability.
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More about Ricardo Ferreira
Ricardo is Senior Developer Advocate at AWS, working in the developer relations team for North America. With +20 years of experience, he may have learned a thing or two about distributed systems, fast data analytics, software architecture, databases, and observability. Before joining AWS, he worked for software vendors like Elastic, Confluent, and Oracle. Ricardo is known for his natural ability to explain complex topics. He craftily breaks them down into bite-sized pieces until anyone can understand.
While not working, he loves barbecuing in his backyard with his family and friends, where he finally gets the chance to talk about anything unrelated to computers. He currently lives in North Carolina, USA, with his wife and son. Follow Ricardo on Twitter: @riferrei.