Introducing Microsoft Orleans: Implementing Cloud-Native Services with a Virtual Actor Framework

Orleans is a virtual actor framework from Microsoft that enables a single developer to create scalable, available applications while maintaining high throughput. This guide provides a foundational understanding of Orleans, its implementations, and hands-on coding experience, discussing side-by-side monolithic and microservice patterns alongside framework features. It introduces patterns as needed for business requirements, such as monolithic to microservices conversion, to keep microservices from growing into monolithic applications. The book covers how Orleans can support billions of parallel transactions while sustaining low latency and high availability. It also delves into its useful attributes, including life cycle, messaging guarantees, cluster management, streams, load balancing, and more.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 196 pages
Publication date: 24 May 2022
Publisher: APress

Welcome to Orleans, a virtual actor framework from Microsoft that empowers a single developer to create highly scalable, available applications while maintaining exceptional throughput. This comprehensive guide is meticulously crafted to provide you with a solid foundation in Orleans, encompassing its implementations, and offering ample hands-on coding experience. Additionally, we delve into side-by-side comparisons of monolithic and microservice patterns alongside the remarkable features of the Orleans framework, ensuring that readers with a background in actor models can seamlessly grasp how they can enhance their applications.

Author Nelson's approach revolves around introducing patterns as and when business requirements necessitate them, including the transition from monolithic to microservices. This strategic approach ensures that microservices remain manageable, preventing them from evolving into monolithic applications. Orleans emerges as a wise choice for both scenarios, serving as the next logical step in building robust backend services and mitigating unnecessary orchestration, overhead, and tooling.

The Orleans framework was meticulously designed to alleviate cumbersome overhead, enabling developers to dedicate their attention to the solution at hand. Throughout this book, you will discover how Orleans excels in supporting billions of virtually parallel transactions, while maintaining remarkably low latency and exceptional availability. Furthermore, we take a deep dive into the inner workings of Orleans, unveiling its valuable attributes that contribute to its effectiveness. Each key learning point is reinforced through hands-on coding examples, ensuring a thorough understanding of the concepts presented.

This book extends beyond a mere introduction to Orleans, delving into its place within the broader realm of development. By gaining a comprehensive understanding of Orleans, you will establish a solid foundation for future growth and advancement in your software engineering journey.

Weight: 419g
Dimension: 254 x 178 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781484280133
Edition number: 1st ed.