X-Ray
X-Ray is a distributed tracing service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that helps developers analyze and debug applications, particularly in microservices and serverless architectures. It collects data about requests as they travel through an application, providing insights into performance bottlenecks, errors, and latency issues. By visualizing service maps and traces, it enables teams to understand application behavior and dependencies across distributed systems.
Developers should use X-Ray when building or maintaining cloud-native applications on AWS, especially those with complex architectures like microservices, serverless functions (e.g., AWS Lambda), or containerized workloads. It is essential for debugging performance issues, identifying root causes of errors, and optimizing resource usage in production environments. For example, it helps trace requests across multiple AWS services like API Gateway, Lambda, and DynamoDB to pinpoint slow or failing components.