Undoubtedly Vert.x is inspired by node.js, thus inherits many traits from node.js platform (deliberately avoiding the term 'framework'). But still it's a completely new platform with much more capability and flexibility. Here are some points as to why i am fascinated with it.
- Polygot in nature: Supports many languages out of the box. While i am writing this, the vert.x 2.1M5 is out and is has support for Java, Javascript, Cofeescript, Groovy, Ruby & Python languages.
- Non-Blocking & Asynchronous: The platform is based on event loop mechanism eliminating the traditional threading model. Gives a strong case for high scalability.
- Distributed Event Bus: The vertx.io page describes this as the central nervous systems of vert.x platform. This connects your polygot modules together. Put your modules in any where in the network, this guy will connect them all. Not over, its even capable of connecting your client side via client side javascript code running on your browser. Simply amazing. Makes the life of developer much easy and worry free. Having said this i am not negating the fact that a poor app design can bring disaster as well.
- Concurrency Model: This is awesome. You write your application following single threaded model. The vert.x platform is capable of bringing the multi-threaded programming effect on it without the hassle of volatility, synchronization or lock. Also vert.x is able to create multiple threads based on the number of CPU cores in your server leveraging the full strength of multi-core programming. Clustering support is also provided out of the box. Its all automatically taken so that you can focus on your business logic.
- Module Repository: This is something similar to NPM(node package manager) where you will find lots of prebuilt modules available for you to implement certain functionalities. Remember the DRY principle and its exactly offering the same reusability principle to you. This one is growing as more and more people are developing and contributing different modules into the ecosystem.
Vert.x is an open source independent project run by the vert.x community. Having said that the core vert.x modules are under the Eclipse foundation project.
Looks interesting ? then move on and check out the official vert.x page here. There are some other interesting reads which i am sharing here where you can find code bytes., architecture details and comparisons on the vert.x platform.
