Dropwizard

Dropwizard

Dropwizard is a Java framework for developing RESTful web services and APIs. It handles configuration, databases, HTTP for serving APIs, health checks, and metrics. Dropwizard aims to reduce boilerplate code and accelerate development.
Dropwizard image
java rest apis configuration databases

Dropwizard: Java Framework for Building RESTful Web Services & APIs

Dropwizard is a Java framework for developing RESTful web services and APIs. It handles configuration, databases, HTTP for serving APIs, health checks, and metrics. Dropwizard aims to reduce boilerplate code and accelerate development.

What is Dropwizard?

Dropwizard is an open-source Java framework optimized for building RESTful web services and APIs. Some key aspects and benefits of Dropwizard include:

  • Rapid Application Development: Dropwizard abstracts away boilerplate code for common functionality like configuration, logging, database access, and web application setup. This allows developers to focus on business logic.
  • Opinionated: Dropwizard establishes conventions and best practices for REST API development like resources, representations, serializers and deserializers. This accelerates development.
  • Operations-Friendly: Dropwizard provides out-of-box instrumentation for aspects like metrics, health checks and logging. This helps streamline deployments and monitoring in production.
  • High Performance: Dropwizard utilizes mature libraries like Jetty, Jersey and Jackson to offer blazing fast and scalable services.
  • Ecosystem: Dropwizard has a rich ecosystem of third-party modules for extending functionality.

If you need to build a REST/HTTP web service and value convention over configuration and rapid iteration, Dropwizard is worth evaluating. Its sweet spot is data services, APIs and web backends. While usable for consumer websites, other frameworks may be more optimal in that context.

Dropwizard Features

Features

  1. Lightweight and fast
  2. Built on proven Java libraries like Jetty, Jersey and Jackson
  3. Declarative configuration to minimize boilerplate code
  4. Out-of-the-box operational tools for metrics, logging and admin

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Rapid development and deployment

Simple and lightweight

Many built-in features

Active community

Cons

Steep learning curve

Not as flexible as developing from scratch

Limited ecosystem compared to Spring Boot


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