Blog Post

Educator Developer Blog
3 MIN READ

Introducing Radius: A new open-source project for teams building cloud-native apps

japhletnwamu's avatar
japhletnwamu
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Nov 10, 2023

In a world driven by innovation and technology, students, startups, AI developers, and entrepreneurs are constantly seeking tools and solutions to simplify their journey in cloud-native applications and dynamic software development. At Microsoft, our mission is to empower all developers, including those just starting their journey, to succeed in building adaptable and dynamic applications that run seamlessly on the cloud and edge.

 

To achieve this goal, we are committed to developing open, flexible, and cutting-edge technologies that make it easy for anyone to build powerful applications using any programming language and on any platform. One of the many teams leading this charge at Microsoft is the Azure Open-Source Incubations team. They have brought forth several groundbreaking projects like Dapr (https://dapr.io), KEDA (https://keda.sh) and the most recent project Radius (https://radapp.io). Each project is cloud-neutral, open-source, and has been or are in the process of being donated to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

 

 

 

Now let's delve into the world of Radius, the latest addition to this innovative lineup, and explore how it can benefit students, startups, AI developers, and entrepreneurs by enhancing the efficiency and quality of their application development process.

 

Introducing Radius: Your Cloud-Native Application Platform

Radius is a new open-source, cloud-native application platform designed to empower not only developers but also the the infrastructure operators that support them. Its mission is to make cloud-native application development more efficient and accessible, regardless of the cloud platform you choose.

 

 

 

With Radius, we aim to provide a self-service platform that accelerates team productivity, allowing developers to focus on their core responsibilities, whether it's coding microservices or creating application infrastructure. This open-source project is a game-changer for teams building, deploying, and managing cloud-native applications.

 

In the world of cloud-native application development, the synergy between developers and IT operators is crucial. Radius facilitates seamless collaboration between these two key teams. Here's how it works:

  • Defining Your Application: Developers define their applications in Radius, including all the services, dependencies, and relationships within them, instead of in terms of infrastructure or Kubernetes. This approach streamlines the development process, making it easier to manage complex applications.
  • Crafting Environments: In parallel, operators define environments within Radius, encapsulating infrastructure templates, policies, and organizational requirements specific to their chosen platform, whether it's Azure, AWS, or self-hosted. This ensures that your applications can run smoothly on any cloud platform.

 

Understanding the Application Graph

Central to Radius is the concept that applications are not just lists of services and infrastructure but a web of interconnected relationships. Radius empowers teams to describe, deploy, and query these relationships within an application, allowing for a shared understanding of "what is the app?" This shared understanding is the foundation of efficient collaboration and productivity.

 

Learn More About Radius

If you're a student, startup, AI developer, or entrepreneur eager to learn more about Radius and its potential, we invite you to explore this open-source project further. In this episode of Open at Microsoft, Ryan Nowak a Principal Software Architect and Aaron Crawfis Senior Product Manager both on the Azure OSS Incubation team as they dive deep into Radius, providing insights into its capabilities and real-world applications.

 

 

Joining the Radius Community

To stay connected with the Radius community and dive into the technical details, you can join the open-source GitHub community, participate in discussions on the Radius Discord server, or visit the Radius website for more information and resources.

 

Staying Updated on Open at Microsoft

As a student, startup, AI developer, or entrepreneur, it's essential to stay updated on the latest developments in the open-source world. Open at Microsoft is an informative show series that features open-source projects and initiatives. It's an excellent resource for learning about new technologies and discovering how you can contribute to the open-source ecosystem.

 

Additional Resources

Check out more episodes Open at Microsoft Series

Sign up for Microsoft for Startup Founders Hub

Sign up to get access to Microsoft Azure for Student for free

 

Updated Nov 13, 2023
Version 2.0
No CommentsBe the first to comment