Bring a Proven Developer Experience to Kubernetes – InApps Technology 2022

Cloud Foundry sponsored this post.

For clues to the future, look to the past. This article summed up the aim of Cloud Foundry in 2011:

…Cloud Foundry aims to streamline the development, delivery and operations of modern apps, and rallying developers to run and scale their applications. This concept will also be embracing public and private clouds and standards and frameworks set forth by the industry.

The value of the project has played out exactly as written above and at a meaningful scale. According to the Cloud Foundry User Survey 2019, the project is “used by more than half of the Fortune 500 and a third of the Global 2000.”

Open source projects only reach these adoption and longevity milestones when coupled with a high degree of pragmatism. And “pragmatic” is the word that leaps to mind when I think of the Cloud Foundry community. Want to use Docker? Sure, you can push that to the platform. Need to run .NET apps? Let’s add a buildpack for that framework. Got a piece of open source tech that does the job better than the current implementation? Make the swap without breaking changes.

With that pragmatic mindset, the Cloud Foundry Foundation has fully embraced Kubernetes as the go-to project for running and scaling distributed systems. That frees the Cloud Foundry community to focus on the really cool stuff – like bringing a proven developer experience to Kubernetes.

That’s a helpful backdrop as we look ahead to Cloud Foundry Summit, a virtual event happening June 24-25. (Register here, it’s only $50!)

The #CFSummit virtual schedule is now live!

Engage with fast-paced, high energy content dedicated to the developer experience and project contributions with abbreviated sessions designed for a virtual experience. See the schedule: https://t.co/rzufiZPbAv pic.twitter.com/aUcDK1IX3F

— Cloud Foundry (@cloudfoundry) May 13, 2020

For this year’s Summit preview, let’s showcase the sessions that detail the community’s progress towards delivering the cf push experience evolving atop Kubernetes. Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order.

Cloud Foundry for K8s – Same Great PaaS. Brand New Foundation

Andrew Wittrock, VMware & Eric Promislow, SUSE

Read the session abstract

Here’s the obvious place to start. Cloud Foundry for Kubernetes (cf-for-k8s) is a fully native implementation of the Cloud Foundry developer experience atop a Kubernetes foundation. Wittrock and Promislow give you an overview of the project and detail its community support.

This is an awesome talk by @tiffanyfayj. I still have a lot of love for @cloudfoundry. Especially after working so much with @kubernetesio lately. Must watch. https://t.co/TySJNRRWSo

— Kenny Bastani (@kennybastani) May 28, 2020

Panel: Cloud Foundry – A Kubernetes Serving Kitchen

Bernd Krannich, SAP SE; Dieu Cao, VMware; Jeff Hobbs, SUSE; Simon Moser, IBM; and Moderated by Daniel Jones, EngineerBetter

Read the session abstract

Just now getting wind of Cloud Foundry’s efforts to complement Kubernetes? These panelists offer an overview of the most important projects, where they stand, and what it all means for Cloud Foundry users. Want additional context? Watch this session from last September.

CRD-ifying Cloud Foundry for Kubernetes

Angela Chin & Connor Braa, VMware

Read the session abstract

Why is Kubernetes so extensible? Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs). Chin and Braa discuss why CRDs are a core component of the aforementioned cf-for-k8s project. If you want a deeper look at the effort to make Cloud Foundry Kubernetes-native, don’t miss this session!

Data Service Automation for Cloud Foundry on Kubernetes

Julian Fischer, anynines GmbH

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Every modern app needs a modern data service. Watch this session, and learn about your options for lifecycle management of your backing services on Cloud Foundry and Kubernetes. Fischer explains how to make sense of Operators, Helm charts, Kubernetes CRDs, and the Open Service Broker API.

A Bit about Cloud Foundry, A Byte About Eirini

Julz Skupnjak, IBM & Georgi Dankov, SAP

Read the session abstract

Eirini was one of the first initiatives launched to bring Cloud Foundry closer to Kubernetes. Its goal: to bring Kubernetes as a container scheduler to the Cloud Foundry Application Runtime. Skupnjak and Dankov give you a crash course on the project, and how it’s used in KubeCF and CF-for-K8s.

Deep Dive with KubeCF

Thulio Ferraz Assis, SUSE & Enrique Encalada, IBM

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KubeCF is an early effort to combine BOSH releases into a Kubernetes-native PaaS. Assis and Encalada share what they’ve learned on the project, and explain how you can try KubeCF out in your local environment.

Bringing the Simplicity of “cf map-route” to Kubernetes

Tim Downey & Nitya Dhanushkodi, VMware

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We like to say that we’re bringing the magic of cf push to Kubernetes. It’s true, and it’s a great way to summarize the big idea. The actual work to do this is far more involved, of course.

Here, Downey and Dhanushkodi detail the thoughtful engineering done for the new networking tier in CF for Kubernetes. An added bonus: a demo of how the team has worked Istio into the project!

Paketo Buildpacks, From Source Code to Application Images

Daniel Thornton, VMware

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Buildpacks are one of the technologies the Cloud Foundry community has come to know and love. It’s easy to see why: a repeatable, automated way to build containers from source code makes developers more productive, improves operations efficiency, and boosts compliance and security.

Many folks asked “how about buildpacks, but for Kubernetes?” That’s Paketo Buildpacks. Thornton explains how the team remastered the buildpacks concept for the world of Kubernetes.

Four Bonus Talks

Cloud Foundry Summits have always been about more than just engineering. Here’s a look at three additional talks you won’t want to miss.

Diversity Luncheon: How Did We Get Where We Are? The System of Racial Inequity

Dr. Shakti Butler, World Trust Educational Services

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Diversity Luncheons have been a hallmark of Cloud Foundry Summits in the past, and the topic is now more crucial than ever. So, join the community for the Summit’s first virtual Diversity Luncheon with Dr. Shakti Butler, a filmmaker and visionary educator in the field of social and racial equity.

Is Your Developer Experience COVID-Immune?

Dormain Drewitz, VMware

Read the session abstract

Years of digital transformation have happened in months, spurred by COVID-19. Cloud Foundry users have been some of the quickest to respond to changing market conditions. Domain examines several case studies, with actionable ideas you can take back to your organization.

Some of my “glass half full” thoughts > https://t.co/HevX4otRQC

— Chip Childers (@chipchilders) May 8, 2020

A Practical Guide to Approach MicroService (MSA) Routing Tier for a Smooth Sail

Dilleswara Anupoju, Comcast

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You’ve got more apps than ever, and they are running on Cloud Foundry, Kubernetes, VMs, and bare metal. How do you connect them all, especially when they are running across clouds? The folks at Comcast have wrestled with this use case, and successfully applied API gateways, edge proxies, and other patterns to improve outcomes. Anupoju reviews common challenges and design factors you must consider.

Why Empathy Matters in Infrastructure Technology

Craig McLuckie, VMware

Read the session abstract

Operations teams everywhere are ramping up on Kubernetes. As they wrangle with the power (and complexity) of the system, they mustn’t lose sight of the bigger picture: developer enablement.

McLuckie sets the tone for the Summit with a discussion on empathy, and how it informs VMware’s approach to market.

Register Now and Join the Conversation June 24 & 25

Register for CF Summit – as usual, it promises to be one of the top open source events of the year.

To whet your appetite, listen to Chip Childers, Executive Director of the Cloud Foundry Foundation, on the Kubernetes Podcast from Google. Childers and the hosts have a terrific discussion of the Foundation’s efforts with Kubernetes. (The interview starts with 39:15 minutes remaining, with the discussion of Cloud Foundry starting at 30:09 remaining).

See you online!

SAP and VMware are sponsors of InApps Technology.

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InApps Technology is a wholly owned subsidiary of Insight Partners, an investor in the following companies mentioned in this article: Docker, Bit.