Tools for trying out OpenTelemetry

OpenTelemetry, an open-source observability framework officially launched in 2019, can present a steep learning curve for newcomers seeking to instrument their services. This blog post by Reese Lee, a Senior Developer Relations Engineer, offers several tools and methods to facilitate an easy trial of OpenTelemetry, allowing users to generate and analyze data before committing to full instrumentation. It introduces otel-cli, a command-line interface tool for sending OpenTelemetry traces to collectors or New Relic, as a straightforward option for distributed tracing. Additionally, telemetrygen is highlighted as a utility to simulate client-generated traces, metrics, and logs for testing and demonstration purposes, though its data is static and basic. For a more comprehensive experience, the OpenTelemetry Community demo application provides a real-world example of a distributed system, complete with microservices and a load generator to simulate traffic. New Relic also offers simple application examples in various languages to help users understand the instrumentation process. The blog emphasizes that the views expressed are the author's own and encourages readers to explore further resources and community support for a deeper understanding of OpenTelemetry and New Relic’s offerings.