Distributed tracing has become popular in recent times as the preferred way to troubleshoot complex problems in diverse, microservice-based applications. And for good reason: distributed traces give DevOps teams end-to-end visibility into user requests (transactions) as they flow through an application and interact with individual services. But one area where distributed tracing is largely underutilized is the monitoring of service availability and performance.

Blockchain technology represents a fundamental shift in how data can be shared, in an open and transparent method. At the core of blockchain’s appeal is the guarantee to all parties involved that the data they send and receive cannot be changed or tampered with—as well as being error-free.

Editor's note: Today we hear from Dang Nguyen, API Platform Product Owner at Experian, on how the company uses the Apigee API management platform to digitally transform from a traditional credit bureau to a true technology and software provider. Read on to learn how Experian uses APIs to help businesses make smarter decisions and individuals take financial control.

Earlier this week we announced that we are ready for the world to start using InfluxDB Cloud 2.0, the next version of the most popular time series database, in production. I love InfluxDB, and joined the company because it is so easy and fun to use while also being a battle-hardened production database. InfluxDB Cloud 2.0 is suitable for monitoring infrastructure (including easily monitoring your Kubernetes cluster) but is also very popular for IoT projects.

Microservices are increasingly used in the development world as developers work to create larger, more complex applications that are better developed and managed as a combination of smaller services that work cohesively together for more extensive, application-wide functionality. Tools such as Service Fabric are rising to meet the need to think about and build apps using a piece-by-piece methodology that is, frankly, less mind-boggling than considering the whole of the application at once.

Our aim with each update is to combine UI test automation with innovation. This year we’ve been happy with our progress. We introduced a powerful hybrid object recognition engine that now includes AI-powered OCR techniques. Our range of automated tests has always covered desktop, web, mobile, and Chromium-based applications, but through this OCR update, they can now be more complex.

Security experts from Google have discovered a new spyware in 24 Play Store apps that, combined, have more than 472,000 downloads. Researchers have stated that this spyware also has the capabilities of normal malware and appears to have infected certain apps in Google Play with more than 100,000 installations. Cybercriminals are deploying this spyware through the advertisement framework in those compromised apps.

“Quality at Speed” is the new norm in software development. Enterprises are making their moves toward DevOps methodologies and Agile culture to accelerate the delivery speed and ensure product quality. In DevOps, a continuous and automated delivery cycle is the backbone that makes fast and reliable delivery possible. This results in the need for proper continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) tools.