What is Observability?
The ability to understand what is happening inside your system by examining its outputs: logs, metrics, and traces.
Why It Matters
Observability helps you diagnose novel problems that you did not predict, not just the ones you set alerts for.
Real-World Example
Using traces to follow a slow request through your microservices and find exactly which service caused the delay.
“Understanding terms like Observability matters because it helps you have better conversations with developers and make smarter decisions about your software. You do not need to be technical. You just need to know enough to ask the right questions.”
Related Terms
Monitoring
Continuously observing your application and infrastructure to detect problems and understand performance.
Logging
Recording events and information as your application runs, creating a trail for debugging and analysis.
Distributed System
A system where components run on multiple computers that coordinate to appear as a single system.
Learn More at buildDay Melbourne
Want to understand these concepts hands-on? Join our one-day workshop and build a real web application from scratch.
Related Terms
Distributed System
A system where components run on multiple computers that coordinate to appear as a single system.
Monitoring
Continuously observing your application and infrastructure to detect problems and understand performance.
Logging
Recording events and information as your application runs, creating a trail for debugging and analysis.
Server
A computer that runs continuously to handle requests, store data, and serve your application to users
Serverless
A way to run code without managing your own servers, where the cloud provider handles everything
Edge Functions
Code that runs on servers close to your users around the world, rather than in one central location