Heroku simplifies application development by handling infrastructure through features like its logging system, which is essential for monitoring and maintaining application performance. Heroku's architecture uses containers called Dynos to manage applications, which can be scaled both vertically and horizontally. The platform's Logplex tool aggregates log streams from various processes into a single channel, which can be integrated with third-party services like Coralogix for enhanced log monitoring and analysis. Heroku maintains four categories of logs—App, API, System, and Add-on logs—each serving different purposes, such as tracking application errors or developer actions. Best practices for Heroku logging include logging useful events, avoiding sensitive data in logs, using structured formats like JSON, employing correct log levels, and defining log retention policies to ensure efficient data storage, as Heroku's default log retention is limited to one week. Logging add-ons like Coralogix can extend log retention and provide advanced analysis tools, making them vital for maintaining a reliable application environment on Heroku.