Designing an unobtrusive analytics framework for monitoring java applications sampo suonsyrjä

Designing an Unobtrusive Analytics Framework

for Monitoring Java Applications Sampo Suonsyrjä and Tommi Mikkonen

Dept. of Pervasive Computing Tampere University of Technology

Contents •  Context

–  Paradigm change in software development

–  Web apps vs. installable programs

•  Motivation –  Why the

unobtrusiveness?

•  Case –  Vaadin framework as the

platform of a target program –  The designed analytics

framework

•  Discussion •  Conclusions

17.10.15 2

Paradigm Change in Software Development

•  Waterfall method and such –  User involvement only before

development –  Requirements defined before

any use –  Systems remained the same

throughout their life –  Changes in user

requirements? No more use! Throw the cd away

•  Agile methods –  Requirements defined as late

as possible –  Users involved iteratively –  More knowledge of what is

possible and needed –  Developing less, but with a

greater accuracy –  Changes in user requirements?

Order an extension to the sw. dev. project

17.10.15 3

Paradigm Change and the First Frontier

•  Feedback with agile methods –  User surveys, thinking aloud,

observations –  Manually collected

qualitative data –  Stops when development

stops •  Continuous Delivery &

Deployment systems –  New versions are delivered

faster than ever

–  Developing experiments, not just reacting to requirements

–  Usage Data = results from these experiments

–  Automatic collecting needed •  Web as a platform for analytics

–  Channel is clear –  Tools are available –  A/B testing is easier than ever –  Continuous experimentation

17.10.15 4

Why the Unobtrusiveness?

•  Collecting usage data leads to changes in the target program •  Target program is continuously under change •  Target program can be built by others •  Data should remain

–  Collectable –  Comparable between different versions

•  If data collecting is independent of the target.. •  ..then data collecting mechanism could be reused

17.10.15 5

Vaadin Framework •  Open source framework

for developing Rich Internet Applications

•  Applications are written in Java..

•  ..and then transformed into AJAX applications

17.10.15 6

Target Program •  Demo app of the Vaadin

Framework •  QuickTickets Dashboard

Demo •  Source code available •  Built by someone else

than the researchers

17.10.15 7

Target Program public DashboardView() {

HorizontalLayout top = new HorizontalLayout();

addComponent(top);Button notify = new Button('2'); Notify.addClickListener(

new ClickListener(){...

});top.addComponent(notify);

};

17.10.15 8

The Designed Framework for Unobtrusive Analytics

•  AspectJ for usage monitoring

•  Fluentd for collecting •  ElasticSearch for storing •  Kibana for visualizing

17.10.15 9

AspectJ public aspect AddComponentListener {pointcut addComponentCall(Button b):

call(* *.addComponent(*))&& args(b);

after(final Button b):addComponentCall(b) {

b.addClickListener(new Button.ClickListener()

{ public void click(ClickEvent e) {

dataCollector.logEvent(b, e);}});

}}

public DashboardView() {HorizontalLayout top = new HorizontalLayout();addComponent(top);Button notify = new Button('2'); Notify.addClickListener(new ClickListener(){

...

});top.addComponent(notify);

};

17.10.15 10

AspectJ

•  Aspect-oriented programming is unobtrusive by nature

•  No alteration of the original source code •  Tooling is affected however

–  AspectJ dependency inserted –  Aspect class file inserted –  Normal compiling + aspect weaving

17.10.15 11

Fluentd

•  Implemented similarly as aspects –  Fluentd dependency added –  A logging class added

•  Parses data into JSON •  Sends data for storing •  In this case, Fluentd was

installed and run on the same machine as the target program

17.10.15 12

Fluentd

public class DataLogger {private static FluentLogger LOG = FluentLogger.getLogger("button.click");

public void logButtonClick(Button b, ClickEvent event){ Map<String, Object> data = new HashMap<String, Object>();

data.put("Button Caption", b.getCaption());data.put("Button ID", b.getId());...

LOG.log("click", data);}}

17.10.15 13

ElasticSearch and Kibana •  ElasticSearch is document

oriented •  Data was already in JSON

àName fields automatically •  Real-time access with Kibana •  Different visualizations readily

available

17.10.15 14

Discussion

•  RQ1: To what extent can a data collecting feature be implemented without compromising the evolution of the target program?

•  Usage monitoring inserted without changing the source code •  Aspect and logging class files and dependencies inserted •  Target application’s evolution was not compromised

–  No additional effort needed if new version has different buttons –  However, if the new version introduces new ways of implementing

buttons aspects need changing as well

17.10.15 15

Discussion

•  RQ2: What types of data can be collected with the given approach?

•  Aspect-oriented monitoring is flexible –  Pointcuts could be made on a vast variety of different points –  Advices can include almost arbitrary code –  Access to the target program in source code level

•  Vaadin Framework provided an abundant platform for collecting data •  Usage data collected in this case •  Perhaps end-user feedback in the future?

17.10.15 16

Discussion

•  RQ3: How to connect the data collecting feature with an analysis framework?

•  Aspect-code can be put to produce data in various formats àUnified logging layer (Fluentd: JSON) àPossibility to use standardized storing and visualization tools àUseful when combining different kinds of data (access, error, application logs etc.)

17.10.15 17

Conclusions •  New means of getting feedback

from end-users are needed à Analytics with usage data

•  New versions continuously à Need for unobtrusiveness à Aspect-oriented collecting

Thank you!

17.10.15 18