How do you choose the best batch UI framework for Spring Batch?

1 Why do you need a batch UI?

A batch UI is not only a desirable feature, but also an essential component for ensuring the reliability, performance, and security of batch applications. It can be used to manage jobs and parameters, monitor execution and status, analyze performance and metrics, troubleshoot issues and errors, and audit activities and history. Without a batch UI, these tasks would have to be done manually with commands, scripts, or logs, which can be tedious, error-prone, or insecure.

2 What are the options for a batch UI?

When creating a batch UI for Spring Batch, you have several options to choose from, depending on your preferences, requirements, and resources. Spring Boot Admin is a web-based UI that integrates with Spring Boot applications and provides features such as health indicators, metrics, environment, loggers, and endpoints. It also supports Spring Batch jobs and steps, allowing you to view their details and status. Alternatively, you can use Spring Cloud Data Flow which is a cloud-native platform that orchestrates data pipelines composed of Spring Boot applications. It has a web-based UI that allows you to design, deploy, and manage data pipelines as well as monitor their execution and metrics. Lastly, you can opt for a custom-built UI using the Spring Batch API or the Spring Batch Admin REST API. You can use any web framework or technology such as Angular, React, Thymeleaf, or Bootstrap to customize the look and feel of your UI as well as its functionality and security.

3 How do you compare the options?

Choosing the best batch UI framework for Spring Batch requires comparing the options based on several criteria, such as ease of use, functionality, compatibility, scalability, and security. Ease of use looks at how easy it is to set up, configure, and use the UI, as well as its user-friendly interface. Functionality covers the features and operations needed for batch applications, while compatibility examines integration with existing batch applications and infrastructure. Scalability evaluates how well it handles large volumes of data and concurrent users, while security looks at how well it protects applications and data from unauthorized access or modification.

4 What are some examples of the options?

To illustrate the options and criteria, let's look at some examples of batch UI frameworks for Spring Batch. Spring Boot Admin is easy to use, only requiring a dependency and an annotation to your Spring Boot application. It also has a simple and elegant interface that displays the health and metrics of your application and its components. However, it does not offer much functionality for Spring Batch jobs and steps, only allowing you to start, stop, or restart them, as well as view their basic details and status. Furthermore, it does not support distributed or clustered environments and has minimal security features. Spring Cloud Data Flow is more functional, allowing you to design, deploy, and manage data pipelines composed of Spring Boot applications. It also has a comprehensive and interactive interface that shows the execution and metrics of your pipelines and their components. Nevertheless, it is more complex to use, needing the installation and configuration of a server, a database, a message broker, and a runtime platform. Moreover, it has more dependencies and versions to manage, potentially not being compatible with some existing batch applications or infrastructure. Lastly, custom UI is more flexible but challenging to use; it requires developing and maintaining your own code and UI components as well as dealing with the complexity of the Spring Batch API or the Spring Batch Admin REST API.

5 How do you decide the best option?

When it comes to choosing the best batch UI framework for Spring Batch, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. You must consider the context, goals, and trade-offs of each option, and decide which criteria are most important to you. To help you decide, think about the features and operations you need for your batch applications, how complex and diverse your batch applications and infrastructure are, how often and how much you need to interact with your batch applications, the importance of performance, reliability, and security for your batch applications, and how much time and resources you have to set up, use, and maintain your batch UI. Answering these questions will help you narrow down your options and select the one that best fits your needs.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?