Virtual Threads in the Real World: Fast, Robust Java Microservices with Helidon
summary
Helidon rewrites its Netty server into a Nema web server designed from the socket up to allocate a virtual thread per request, enabling simple blocking code while keeping latency stable and throughput high; benchmarks show handling millions of virtual threads with low overhead. Helidon 4 targets Java 21 baseline, Helidon 4.2 adds Java Flight Recorder metrics and pin detection, Java 24 removes synchronized pinning, and built-in controls (semaphores, bulkheads, max-concurrent) plus JLink and GraalVM packaging manage startup, rate limits, and resource isolation.
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chapters (8)
- 0:00Virtual threads intro
- 7:05Helidon overview
- 15:37Helidon 4 design benefits
- 19:51Blocking vs reactive code
- 22:19Lessons learned pinning
- 28:19Rate limiting techniques
- 35:26Java features Helidon 4.2
- 39:42Summary labs
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