Temporal

Temporal is an open-source durable execution platform that ensures applications and services execute successfully even when things go wrong. It hides the complexity of building scalable distributed systems so developers can focus on delivering reliable systems faster.

Temporal offers a range of features including:

• Durable Execution: Guarantees workflows succeed even with network failures, flaky endpoints, or long-running processes.
• Event-Driven Architectures: Makes error handling and state propagation easy, and makes system testing easier.
• SAGA & Distributed Transactions: Ensures safe and consistent state across distributed services using compensating transactions.
• State Machines: Records the full state of functions and workflows, eliminating the need for state machine code.
• Batch Processing: Gives visibility into failures with each execution becoming a Workflow Execution.
• Scheduled Jobs & Cron: Replaces Cron with Scheduled Workflows for reliable execution.

Temporal supports multiple programming languages, including Go, Java, Typescript, Python, and .NET, for polyglot development. This means it can be used in a variety of applications, such as order management, payment processing, infrastructure pipelines, customer on/offboarding, logistics management, and applied AI.

The platform can be deployed in two ways: self-hosted and fully managed serverless with Temporal Cloud. Temporal Cloud runs in 11+ regions and you only pay for what you use, with a cost estimator to help you estimate your monthly costs. Pricing starts at $25 for 1,000,000 actions. Higher volume users get discounts, and you can buy credits to lower costs further. Support is available from basic to premium and includes options like technical onboarding, design reviews, and cost optimization.

Temporal is designed to fit into your existing development workflow, making it easy to integrate with your existing tools and infrastructure. Its open-source nature and MIT license have won over prominent companies and an active, growing community.

Temporal is for developers who want to avoid the complexity of building reliable distributed systems. It ensures workflows are executed successfully even when things go wrong.

Published on July 12, 2024