Custom Monitoring Scripts vs Datadog

Developers should learn to create custom monitoring scripts when off-the-shelf monitoring solutions lack coverage for application-specific metrics, such as custom business KPIs, niche performance counters, or proprietary system states meets developers should learn and use datadog when building or maintaining distributed systems, microservices architectures, or cloud-based applications that require comprehensive observability. Here's our take.

Custom Monitoring Scripts

Nice Pick

Developers should learn to create custom monitoring scripts when off-the-shelf monitoring solutions lack coverage for application-specific metrics, such as custom business KPIs, niche performance counters, or proprietary system states

Pros

• They are essential in environments with unique compliance needs, legacy systems, or when integrating disparate data sources for holistic observability
• Related to: bash-scripting, python

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Datadog

Developers should learn and use Datadog when building or maintaining distributed systems, microservices architectures, or cloud-based applications that require comprehensive observability

Pros

• It is essential for DevOps and SRE teams to monitor application performance, detect anomalies, and resolve incidents quickly, particularly in dynamic environments like AWS, Azure, or Kubernetes
• Related to: apm, infrastructure-monitoring

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Custom Monitoring Scripts is a tool while Datadog is a platform. We picked Custom Monitoring Scripts based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Custom Monitoring Scripts wins

Based on overall popularity. Custom Monitoring Scripts is more widely used, but Datadog excels in its own space.