Learn about OpenTelemetry and how it can give you superpowers monitoring your web applications allowing to find and fix bugs and performance problems easily.

OpenTelemetry, a Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) project, is a robust and unified framework designed to collect telemetry data such as traces, metrics, and logs from applications, offering deep insights into application performance and facilitating faster bug resolution. Originating from the merger of two earlier CNCF projects, OpenTracing and OpenCensus, it aims to alleviate vendor lock-in by providing a vendor-neutral approach to observability. The framework includes key components like the OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP), which standardizes data transmission, and the Collector, a tool for receiving, processing, and exporting telemetry data. The Collector can be configured with receivers, processors, extensions, exporters, and services, forming pipelines that manage the flow and transformation of telemetry data. Although the article introduces the basics of OpenTelemetry, it also highlights the potential for more advanced applications, such as instrumenting Next.js applications and using tools like Highlight to simplify the process and derive actionable insights.