If you’re involved in tech, you’ve probably heard of “APM.” No, Starcraft fans, we’re not talking about actions per minute. We’re talking about Application Performance Management, one of the most important principles in app programming. But what is APM, exactly?
It’s something of an industry buzzword, but it’s an important one. Actively monitoring your application’s performance is key (not for nothing, some define “APM” as Application Performance Monitoring rather than Application Performance Management). When used properly, APM is the ultimate tool for tracking what your app does well and doesn’t do well, giving you the power to improve and perfect your product.
The types of APM
According to Stackify, there are three basic types of APM:
- App metrics, which means tracking app requests and URL load times.
- Code-level, which offers more insight into transactions.
- Network based, which tracks network traffic.
What all of these types of APM have in common is that they track what the app is doing – they give you the what with the goal of helping you find the why.
It’s obvious that, without APM, it would be hard to determine what you app was doing well or poorly – much less why that was so or what you could do to improve it.
What’s slowing you down?
For instance, one key use of APM would be to monitor data usage. A good code-level performance APM application can show you the performance of your database, read and send requests, and more. You can see what causes performance spikes and determine which parts of your app are slowing down others. Are certain URLs slow? Are certain types of transactions a problem? And with code-level feedback, you can determine the why when you find that certain transactions are underperforming. That’s absolutely crucial, because the whole point of spotting problems with your app is to improve the app, and being told exactly where the issue is makes for a much easier fix than crawling through your entire code looking for a problem.
Keeping the records
The best APM programs include two things that programmers absolutely need: error tracking and log management. Tracking speeds and performance is key, but there’s no bigger issue in an app than an app-crashing error. Tracking where errors occur and determining why is one of the most important uses for APM.
There there are the logs – the records of what the program has been doing. When things go wrong, log data is what helps programmers recreate the moment and understand the problem. When selecting APM tools, it’s vital to look at how the tools document the things that go right and wrong with your application.
APM is a necessity, not a luxury
In today’s competitive tech world, maintaining a sub-par app just isn’t an option. If your app is slow, another one in its niche will overtake it. If your app has large-scale performance problems, then your brand may never recover. Tech is a place where competitors move fast and where customers hold grudges. It’s a place where first impressions are the only impressions, and where performance is all that matters. That has made APM an industry-wide standard, and it has led to the development of many great APM products designed to help you monitor your own application. APM is no luxury – it’s an essential part of app development for all types of tech innovators, and understanding what it is, how it works, and how to use it are key.