October 2018 Summaries

New Relic APM 360 is a powerful tool for understanding application performance and identifying areas of improvement. To get the most out of it, organizations need to establish a naming convention for their applications, set up account and user access controls, use APM to understand customer experience, analyze and resolve errors, create actionable dashboards with key NRQL queries, set up New Relic Alerts, and continually refine their approach as needed. By following these best practices, organizations can unlock the full value of their application performance monitoring solution and improve the digital experience for their customers.

New Relic APM 360 is a tool designed to provide detailed insights into application performance, aiding businesses in optimizing their digital services. The guide emphasizes the importance of establishing a naming convention for applications to streamline navigation and management, and suggests setting up a hierarchy of accounts and sub-accounts for better access control. It introduces the Apdex score as a critical measure for assessing application performance and customer satisfaction, encouraging users to set ideal values based on their application's history. The guide also highlights the importance of using New Relic's Error Analytics and Distributed Tracing features to troubleshoot and resolve performance issues efficiently. Furthermore, it recommends leveraging New Relic Insights and New Relic Query Language (NRQL) to make performance data actionable, and stresses the necessity of setting up New Relic Alerts to receive timely notifications about application issues. The document encourages users to explore additional resources for best practices and offers a proficiency quiz to test their understanding of New Relic APM.

New Relic has developed a service called Fastly-to-Insights that allows users to track performance data from their Content Delivery Network (CDN) in New Relic Insights, even if they don't have direct access to the CDN. This service uses the Fastly API to pipe real-time analytics data into New Relic Insights, enabling users to monitor their CDN's performance and troubleshoot errors more effectively. To use this service, users need an active New Relic account with Insights, an active Fastly account with read access, a New Relic Insights Insert key and a Fastly API Key, and a Docker account. The Fastly-to-Insights service is available on Github as an open-source solution, and New Relic welcomes contributions and feedback to make it easier to use.

New Relic has developed an experimental Fastly-to-Insights service that facilitates real-time monitoring of Fastly CDN performance data within New Relic Insights, allowing users to correlate errors between their web applications and CDN. This service, which is not officially supported by New Relic, utilizes a proxy server to query Fastly's real-time analytics API and transfers metrics such as response size, request size, and status codes to New Relic Insights as custom events. To utilize this service, users need active accounts with both New Relic and Fastly, as well as specific API keys and a dedicated server to run a Docker image. The service was created to address the difficulty of diagnosing CDN-related issues and is available open-source on GitHub, inviting contributions and feedback from the community. While it was originally developed for internal use at New Relic, users can adapt the service to suit their needs, though it requires access to the Fastly API and may not be directly applicable to other CDNs without similar access.

The popularity of programming languages can be influenced by various factors, including their overall utility, familiarity to developers and employers, and standing in software development's ever-shifting landscape. New Relic takes an annual survey to analyze measures of programming language usage and identify trends in the industry. Established languages like Java and Python remain popular, but there are ongoing debates about what constitutes a programming language and how to define a methodology for ranking them. The industry is shifting towards microservices and containerization, with polyglot programming becoming more prevalent as companies adopt a multilingual approach to create small teams that can work independently. Microsoft's .NET Core framework has gained traction, potentially altering the relative popularity of key languages. Employers' requests for specific languages are often used as an indicator of their popularity, but there is some variation in these lists. Python appears to be gaining momentum, with its rise attributed to its straightforward syntax and flexibility. Other languages like Go, Elixir, and Julia are also gaining traction, with Go being a notable example due to its ease of use for networked applications and potential growth in cloud and serverless use cases. Ultimately, the popularity of programming languages can be complex and influenced by various factors, making it essential to stay up-to-date on emerging trends and technologies.

Programming language popularity is influenced by a variety of factors, including utility, familiarity, and evolving software trends like cloud computing and microservices. Established languages such as Java and Python have consistently ranked high in surveys since 2014, with Python showing significant growth due to its simplicity and versatility. New Relic's analysis highlights a shift towards a "polyglot" approach, where developers use multiple languages suited to specific tasks, supported by trends like microservices and containerization. Microsoft's open-source initiatives and tools like .NET Core are also impacting language popularity by broadening accessibility. Emerging languages such as Go, Elixir, and Julia are gaining traction, driven by their unique advantages and growing industry needs, suggesting that developers should consider gaining expertise in these rising languages to stay ahead in the field.

New Relic has acquired the technology and hired key members of the team behind CoScale, a Belgian company specializing in monitoring container and microservices environments with a focus on Kubernetes. This acquisition aligns with New Relic's vision to help modern software teams monitor modern architectures, particularly in containerized applications. The CoScale team will join New Relic's European Development Center in Barcelona, Spain, and contribute to expanding the platform's capabilities in Kubernetes monitoring, accelerating the roadmap for container and Kubernetes monitoring products, and providing full-stack container visibility in production environments.

New Relic has expanded its capabilities in monitoring container and microservices environments by acquiring CoScale, a Belgian company with expertise in Kubernetes. This acquisition aligns with New Relic’s strategy to enhance its platform for companies adopting modern software architectures. CoScale, recognized by Gartner as a "Cool Vendor," brings a skilled team focused on integrating their technology into New Relic Infrastructure, particularly for Kubernetes and container management. This move is expected to bolster New Relic's offerings in monitoring solutions, as the demand for containerized applications grows. CoScale’s team will join New Relic's European Development Center in Barcelona, further strengthening the company's presence in Europe. The collaboration is anticipated to accelerate New Relic’s roadmap in providing comprehensive monitoring solutions, helping DevOps teams innovate by offering deeper insights into their infrastructure.

The PHP community is large and vibrant, with many prominent contributors, project leaders, teachers, visionaries, and entrepreneurs who are shaping its future. The list includes individuals such as Rob Allen, Sebastian Bergmann, Jordi Boggiano, Dries Buytaert, Angie Byron, Anthony Ferrara, Ed Finkler, Sara Golemon, Andi Gutmans, Emma Jane Hogbin, Alena Holligan, Rasmus Lerdorf, Tobias Nyholm, Matthew Weier O'Phinney, Taylor Otwell, Nikita Popov, Fabien Potencier, Derick Rethans, Lukas Smith, Margaret Staples, Juan Treminio, Jonathan Wage, and David Walsh. These individuals are recognized for their expertise in PHP development, testing, security, performance, education, community building, and more. They are all highly respected within the PHP ecosystem and continue to contribute to its growth and evolution.

PHP, a powerful and versatile scripting language, is integral to web development, powering four out of five websites globally. The PHP community is active and vibrant, attracting skilled developers and technologists. This update highlights prominent figures within the PHP community, including influential developers, project leaders, and entrepreneurs, offering insights into their contributions and how they are shaping the future of PHP. Among the notable individuals are Rob Allen, Sebastian Bergmann, Jordi Boggiano, and Rasmus Lerdorf, each making significant impacts through frameworks, testing tools, or community leadership. The PHP ecosystem thrives with diverse contributions, fostering an environment of innovation and collaboration. The post encourages reader engagement through feedback and suggestions via social media channels, reflecting the community's evolving nature.

This day in the life of a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) at New Relic provides an inside look at what it takes to manage and maintain the reliability of a complex software product. The SRE, responsible for the reliability of the Mobile APM product, spends their day attending meetings, troubleshooting issues, and working on side projects. They also have to adapt quickly to changing circumstances, such as deploying new versions of Kafka, which requires careful planning and execution. The day is filled with a mix of technical work, collaboration with team members, and communication with management, highlighting the importance of versatility, careful planning, and full awareness of systems in DevOps.

Working as a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) on New Relic's DevOps team involves a fast-paced and multifaceted daily routine, focused on ensuring the reliability and efficiency of the Mobile APM product used by mobile developers. Responsibilities include monitoring system performance, such as Kafka topics and resource utilization, attending various meetings like the Container Linux community of practice and quarterly capacity planning, and collaborating on projects like containerizing tooling for better service troubleshooting. The job also entails flexibility and adaptability, as exemplified by an unexpected task involving frontend UI work due to a colleague's absence, and the swift handling of issues during an Apache Kafka upgrade. The role requires a blend of technical skills, teamwork, and proactive risk management, all aimed at maintaining the high standards and rapid pace that New Relic's customers expect.