Introduction to Dropwizard

Components of Dropwizard

In the previous section, we got a brief introduction to Dropwizard. We learnt it gathers several Java libraries into packages. So, it consists of different components. This section discusses those components.

Embedded Jetty

Every web application needs an HTTP. In Dropwizard, embedded Jetty is used to embed an HTTP server into a project. 

Jersey for REST

Jersey, the JAX-RS reference implementation is the best for building RESTful web applications. It provides good features and performance and helps us write clean, testable classes that map HTTP requests to Java objects. It supports streaming output, matrix URI parameters, conditional GET requests, and many other features.

Jackson for JSON

Jackson is the library used to do all the JSON processing used in REST services. Jackson provides fast service and has an elaborate object mapper that allows us to export domain models directly. 

Metrics

The metrics library in Dropwizard is used for monitoring. It gives an insight into a code’s behaviour in the production environment.

Other Components

Apart from the components mentioned above, Dropwizard has many more. Some of them are:

• Logback and slf4j for logging.
• Hibernate Validator, the JSR 349, to validate user input and generate error messages.
• The Apache HttpClient and Jersey client libraries for low-level and high-level interaction with other web services.
• JDBI to use a relational database with Java.
• Liquibase to keep a database schema in check throughout the development and release cycles
• Freemarker and Mustache are templating systems for more user-facing applications.
• Joda Time, is an API to handle dates and times.
   

Now that we know about the basics of Dropwizard, you may be wondering why we’re learning about it. Let’s see why in the next section. 

Why We Use Dropwizard

When we’re learning something, we always wonder why we are learning that particular topic and not something else. So to answer this question, let us see why Dropwizard is used.

1. Developing a web application in Java using Spring or Java EE involves many steps, some of which may be complex. Dropwizard provides an easier alternative where adding just one dependency in the pom.xml file completes most of the work. 

2. Dropwizard has built-in support for application metrics. For example, we have to use the @Timed annotation to get the method execution time.

3. Each Dropwizard application has one main program. This program starts the jetty container, where we can run and debug the application from the IDE. Thus, there is no need to recompile or redeploy the WAR file. 

Now that we know why we should use Dropwizard let’s see who already uses it. 

Because of all these features, a number of companies use Dropwizard. To name a few, Cred, Rent the Runway, Upwork, Wayfair, Backend, Samba Tech, Okta, LeanIX API Backend, and SoFi. 

Advantages of Dropwizard

While using technology, knowing about its advantages is also important. So, the advantages of Dropwizard are:

• Quick and easy method to get a new HTTP service running
• Easy setup
• Lightweight
• Java powered
• Great performance
• Good in production
• Has health monitoring facilities available
• Good conventions are used
• Simple
• Open source
• Metric integration is a useful tool
• Has good documentation
• Provides good testing frameworks
• Scalable
• All-in-one productive production makes it easy to use

With this, we come to the end of this article. Now that we know what Dropwizard is, let’s see some frequently asked questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Dropwizard?

Dropwizard is an open-source, full-stack Java framework used to make Java web applications.

Name the different components of Dropwizard.

The different components of Dropwizard are embedded Jetty, jersey, jackson, metrics, logback, hibernate validator, JDBI, liquibase, freemarker and mustache, joda time.

Which library is used to add an HTTP to a web application using Dropwizard?

In Dropwizard, embedded Jetty is used to embed an HTTP server into a project. 

What is the use of metrics in Dropwizard?

The metrics library in Dropwizard is used for monitoring. It gives an insight into a code’s behaviour in the production environment.

What are some advantages of using Dropwizard?

Dropwizard is very easy to set up, simple to use because of good documentation. It is powered by Java and is open source too.

Conclusion

In this article, we got an introduction to Dropwizard. We got to know what Dropwizard is, its different components, why we use it, and who uses it already, but this is the introduction to Dropwizard. After this, we must learn how to set up Dropwizard using Maven.

To get a complete idea of Dropwizard, don’t forget to check out the other articles on it:

• Dropwizard Dependency Injection
• Dropwizard Client
• Dropwizard Filters
• Dropwizard Bundles
• Dropwizard Representation
• Dropwizard Configuration
• Dropwizard Health
• Dropwizard Commands
   

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Happy learning!