IT development teams are often responsible for building and maintaining backend applications that power the company's core product or service. These applications typically need to interact with a variety of other systems - sometimes within the same company, and sometimes with external partners or customers.
Task orchestration is a term that refers to the process of automatically executing a set of tasks in a predefined order. This can be useful in a backend application scenario where there are a number of different tasks that need to be executed in a specific order, and where those tasks need to be coordinated with other systems.
There are a number of different ways to implement task orchestration in a backend application. In this article, we'll take a look at a few of the most popular methods and offer some practical advice on when and how to use them.
One way to implement task orchestration in a backend application is to use database triggers. A database trigger is a piece of code that is automatically executed when a specific event occurs in the database.
For example, let's say you have a backend application that needs to send an email to a customer whenever a new order is placed. You could use a database trigger to automatically execute the code that sends the email whenever a new order is inserted into the database.
Database triggers can be a convenient way to implement task orchestration, but they can also be a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they can automate the execution of tasks and make it easy to coordinate those tasks with other systems. On the other hand, they can make your code more difficult to understand and maintain.
If you decide to use database triggers for task orchestration, it's important to use them judiciously and only when they offer a clear benefit over other approaches.
Another popular way to implement task orchestration in a backend application is to use message queues. A message queue is a system that stores messages and delivers them to consumers in a First-In, First-Out (FIFO) order.
Message queues are often used in conjunction with workers. A worker is a process that runs in the background and consumes messages from a message queue. In our email example from the previous section, the worker would be responsible for sending the email to the customer.
Message queues are a flexible way to implement task orchestration because they can be used to coordinate tasks between different systems. For example, you could use a message queue to coordinate the execution of tasks between a backend application and a frontend application.
A cron job is a task that is automatically executed at a specific time or interval. Cron jobs are commonly used to perform system maintenance tasks, like running a backup script or sending a report to an administrator.
Cron jobs can also be used to implement task orchestration in a backend application. For example, you could use a cron job to send a reminder email to customers 24 hours before their order is due to be shipped.
Cron jobs are a simple and effective way to implement task orchestration, but they can be a bit inflexible. For example, it can be difficult to coordinate the execution of cron jobs with other systems.
Lambda functions are a type of function that is executed in response to an event. Lambda functions are commonly used to process events from sources like Amazon S3 or Amazon DynamoDB.
Lambda functions can also be used to implement task orchestration in a backend application. For example, you could use a Lambda function to process a stream of events from a message queue and send the corresponding emails to customers.
Lambda functions are a flexible way to implement task orchestration, but they can be a bit difficult to debug and troubleshoot.
There are a number of different ways to implement task orchestration in a backend application. The best approach for your application will depend on a number of factors, including the complexity of the task, the number of systems involved, and the skills of your development team.
If you're not sure which approach is best for your application, we recommend starting with a simple approach like database triggers or cron jobs. Once you have a working solution, you can always refactor your code to use a more complex approach like message queues or Lambda functions.