Monitoring Java applications and Getting started with the Elastic APM Java Agent

Java application monitoring aims to reduce the mean time to detect and resolve issues by leveraging Elastic Observability tools, particularly the Elastic APM Java Agent, to collect and analyze data. This process involves using the agent to instrument a Java Spring application that interacts with a MySQL database, allowing real-time monitoring of code spans, JVM metrics, and error traces via the APM app in Kibana. The agent can automatically gather span information, metrics, and errors from Java applications, supporting various Java frameworks and technologies. By integrating logs, metrics, and traces, Elastic Observability creates a comprehensive view of system behavior, enabling efficient incident response and monitoring. The Elastic Stack, with its powerful search capabilities, supports this process by managing and analyzing the collected data. The blog series illustrates these concepts through a practical example, setting up a Java Spring application to monitor database interactions and track performance metrics, with insights into extending monitoring capabilities to multiservice applications in future posts.