Author: Tharmigan Krishnananthalingam

Welcome back to the series exploring the synergy between Ballerina and GraalVM. In the previous article, ‘Ballerina Code to GraalVM Executable,’ we delved into the seamless integration of Ballerina and GraalVM, witnessing how Ballerina applications can build GraalVM native executable and achieve improved performance and reduced memory consumption. In this continuation, we take the next step in our journey, exploring how to containerize a Ballerina GraalVM executable. If you have not read the previous article, I recommend you do so before continuing with this one.

We will use the same Conference Service application to build a Docker image containing the GraalVM executable. The code for this application can be found in the below link:

The Ballerina GraalVM image, a performance-enhanced version of a Ballerina application that can be run as a native executable, offers improved performance and reduced memory consumption. However, like any application in production, issues can arise that impact its performance and reliability. In this article, we will explore how to analyze and resolve production issues that can occur with the Ballerina GraalVM image by delving into essential tools. We will discuss generating heap dumps and connecting a Ballerina GraalVM native application to Java Flight Recorder (JFR) for effective issue diagnosis and resolution.

Ballerina GraalVM Image is a native executable of a Ballerina application generated with the GraalVM native image tool. It leverages the capabilities of the GraalVM platform to compile the Ballerina code into a standalone executable, resulting in optimized performance and reduced memory footprint. To fully utilize the benefits of the Ballerina GraalVM Image, it is essential to be aware of potential production issues that can affect its performance.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of software development, creating efficient and high-performing applications is essential. In this article, we will explore the seamless integration of Ballerina and GraalVM, focusing on the process of transforming Ballerina code into a native executable using GraalVM.

Ballerina is a modern, open-source programming language designed explicitly for cloud-native development. With its focus on integration and ease of use, Ballerina empowers developers to rapidly build scalable, distributed applications. The language comes equipped with a rich set of connectors for interacting with various protocols, services, and APIs, making it ideal for microservices architectures.