By IT Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
Cloud-native applications are designed to take advantage of the decentralized and easily scalable nature of the cloud. In contrast to applications designed to run on a single PC, which are often built as a monolithic block of code, cloud-native applications are often composed of microservices, which are smaller components that are independently deployable and scalable; these microservices communicate with one another via APIs.
Microservices are often integrated into containers, which bundle up application source code with any libraries and dependencies needed to run. Given the complexity of managing lots of containers in the context of a cloud-native application deployment, many IT pros turn to platforms such as Kubernetes to automate the deployment and management of containers and containerized applications.
Cloud-native applications can come in useful in a number of contexts. For example, let’s say you’re in charge of administering a popular e-commerce website with many different features, such as daily deals, a members-only section with discounts and special offers, and more. By utilizing cloud-native applications, you can assign a separate microservice to each one of those features and scale or update without needing to worry about how it might impact the broader site.
Software developers and IT pros are facing more pressure than ever to deliver new features and services quickly, and cloud-native applications can help achieve this particular goal. However, the emphasis on microservices means that IT pros are also managing lots of elements when it comes to cloud-native applications, and their workflows can quickly become complex.
