{"id":230876,"date":"2024-04-14T19:22:03","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T02:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/java\/?p=230876"},"modified":"2024-04-15T02:22:18","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T09:22:18","slug":"java-on-azure-tooling-update-march-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/java\/java-on-azure-tooling-update-march-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Upcoming on the 6-Month Roadmap for Java on Azure Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi everyone, welcome to<\/span> the <\/span>March <\/span>update of Java on Azure<\/span> Tooling<\/span>.<\/span> In this update, we will share our investments for the next few months of Java on Azure Developer Tools. Besides, we will introduce the support for <\/span>m<\/span>anaging <\/span>r<\/span>esources<\/span> using connection string<\/span>s<\/span>. <\/span> We hope you enjoy these updates and have a smooth experience with our Azure toolkit. Please download and install <\/span>the Azure Toolkit for IntelliJ<\/span><\/a>. Let\u2019s get started.<\/span><\/p>\n

Roadmap Update<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

We are <\/span>excited<\/span> to announce our roadmap for the next few months. <\/span>Our goal is to consistently enhance the code-to-cloud experience for Java developers <\/span>which<\/span> allows them to <\/span>seamlessly <\/span>build<\/span> and <\/span>deploy<\/span> their applications <\/span>to <\/span>Azure<\/span> as well as manage Azure <\/span>resources<\/span> within our t<\/span>ools<\/span>. <\/span>Here\u2019s<\/span> an overview of our investment areas:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

Keep<\/span>ing<\/span> U<\/span>p-to-date<\/span> with Latest Azure Services<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Supporting <\/span>the latest<\/span> Azure s<\/span>ervices <\/span>is<\/span> always <\/span>one of our top priorities<\/span>. <\/span>W<\/span>e will continuously <\/span>provide<\/span> the <\/span>latest <\/span>Azure <\/span>features<\/span> of <\/span>Azure Functions, <\/span>Azure Web App, <\/span>Azure Cosmos DB, and other Azure services in our tooling<\/span>, which <\/span>will help developers manage and deploy applications more easily<\/span>.<\/span> This <\/span>will <\/span>include features <\/span>such as <\/span>Flex Consumption support, updating the default Java runtime to Java 21 for Azure Functions, and <\/span>delivering <\/span>Azure Cosmos DB for Mongo <\/span>vCore<\/span> support<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Build<\/span>ing<\/span> Cloud-native Apps with Containerized Services<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
Better Guidance to Intelligent App Experience <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Our next focus is to enhance the experience of building intelligent apps within our toolkit. In <\/span>previous<\/span> releases, we <\/span>have <\/span>introduced support for Azure OpenAI <\/span>s<\/span>ervice and its chat playground, which has been well<\/span> used<\/span> by Java developers. To further assist developers who <\/span>want<\/span> to create intelligent apps using Azure OpenAI <\/span>s<\/span>ervice, we plan to invest in supporting <\/span>additional<\/span> models, including Completions and DALL-E.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Azure SDK Enhancement<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Last but not least<\/span>, <\/span>we will continue to <\/span>keep <\/span><\/span>the <\/span>documentation<\/span><\/span><\/a> of Azure Toolkit <\/span>up to date<\/span>. <\/span>Furthermore, <\/span>our team is working <\/span>to <\/span>minimize<\/span> error rate<\/span>s<\/span> and failures to provide better <\/span>user experience. <\/span>We hope these impro<\/span>vements will<\/span> gre<\/span>atly increas<\/span>e<\/span> developers<\/span>\u2019<\/span> productivity <\/span>within our tools.<\/span> If you have any feedback <\/span>or questi<\/span>ons<\/span> regardin<\/span>g<\/span> the roadmap, feel free to share them with us!<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Azure Toolkit for IntelliJ Improvements<\/strong><\/h4>\n
S<\/span>upport for <\/span>Managing <\/span>Resources <\/span>U<\/span>sing <\/span>C<\/span>onnection <\/span>S<\/span>tring<\/span>s<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

When Java developers interact with Azure services, such as Azure storage account, we have been hearing feedback from them that they need more support in authenticating with Azure services using connection strings. With our latest release, we have enabled you to establish connections between your applications and Azure storage account resources via connection strings. This enhancement offers a simpler way to authenticate your application to Azure Storage account and\u00a0\u00a0 help you manage your resources with security. To use this feature, simply paste the connection string directly into the Project view or Services view. Here is a short demo of it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/java\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/51\/2024\/04\/StoragebyConnetionString.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div><\/p>\n
Feedback and Suggestions<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Please don\u2019t hesitate to try our product<\/a>! Your feedback and suggestions are very important to us and will help shape our product in the future.<\/p>\n

T<\/span>o <\/span>better <\/span>help <\/span>developers <\/span>leverage<\/span> Azure SDK<\/span> in <\/span>Java <\/span>projects<\/span>,<\/span> we are <\/span>exploring the integration<\/span> of<\/span> the <\/span><\/span>Azure SDK Build Tool<\/span><\/span><\/a> into Azure toolkit and Maven plugin. <\/span>This enhancement<\/span> will <\/span>enable developers t<\/span>o <\/span>v<\/span>alida<\/span>t<\/span>e<\/span> the correct <\/span>usage <\/span>of<\/span> Azure SDK<\/span> and<\/span> detect outdated <\/span>libraries<\/span> within<\/span> their projects.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Java developers <\/span>run<\/span>ning<\/span> containerized applications in a cloud-native environment<\/span>, <\/span>we understand <\/span>that <\/span>most of them <\/span>choose <\/span>to host their workloads on either Azure Container <\/span>Apps<\/span> (<\/span>ACA)<\/span> or <\/span>Azure Kubernetes <\/span>Service<\/span> (<\/span>A<\/span>KS<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/span> To<\/span> enhance their code-to-cloud journey<\/span>,<\/span> we <\/span>are <\/span>plan<\/span>ning<\/span> to <\/span>deeply integrate <\/span>with<\/span> <\/span>Java on Azure Container Apps<\/span><\/span><\/a>. <\/span>This<\/span> will<\/span> empower <\/span>developers <\/span>to <\/span>run containerized Java application<\/span>s<\/span> in the cloud<\/span>, <\/span>with flexible deployment options<\/span> from source code <\/span>or<\/span> artifact <\/span>files<\/span>, and<\/span> strengthen security posture and <\/span>better attune<\/span>\u00a0memory<\/span> configuration<\/span> for the container environment. <\/span>Furthermore, we have plans to support a set of key features for containerized services, including Azure Functions on ACA.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n