light-4j is a lightweight Java framework for building fast, cloud-native microservices and APIs. Built on the Undertow HTTP server, it provides a modular alternative to heavier Java enterprise frameworks, with an emphasis on low latency, high throughput and a small memory footprint.
The framework separates business logic from reusable cross-cutting concerns. Its extensive collection of modules covers security, configuration, observability, service discovery, traffic management and request processing.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Builds lightweight microservices using Java SE and Undertow.
- Provides a modular middleware and plugin architecture.
- Supports OAuth 2.0 and JWT-based authentication and authorization.
- Offers runtime request and response validation against OpenAPI specifications.
- Includes metrics, health checks, auditing, logging and distributed tracing.
- Provides service discovery and client-side load balancing.
- Supports CORS, rate limiting, IP allowlists and API key authentication.
- Includes request and response transformation modules.
- Offers externalized configuration suitable for containers and cloud deployments.
- Supports graceful shutdown and completion of in-flight requests.
- Provides modules for ingress proxies, egress routing and sidecar deployments.
- Integrates with the wider light-4j ecosystem for REST, GraphQL and event-driven services.
Website: github.com/networknt/light-4j
Support:
Developer: Steve Hu
License: Apache License 2.0
light-4j is written in Java. Learn Java with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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