Mulesoft provided integration platform - Mule ESB
WHAT:
Mule, the runtime engine of Anypoint Platform, is a lightweight Java-based enterprise service bus (ESB) and integration platform that allows developers to connect applications together quickly and easily, enabling them to exchange data(middleware which integrates multiple systems). For example, we can integrate a Database system of organization A with the Salesforce system of the same organization or any other organization if required.
It allows integration of existing systems, irrespective of the different technologies that the applications use, including JMS, Web Services, JDBC, HTTP, and more. The ESB can be deployed anywhere, can integrate and orchestrate events in real time or in batch.
The advantage with ESB is, it allows different applications to communicate with each other by acting as a transit system for carrying data between applications.
Mule capabilities include:
Service creation and hosting - Expose and host reusable services, using the ESB as a lightweight service container.
Service mediation - Shield services from message formats and protocols, separate business logic from messaging, and enable location-independent service calls.
Message routing - Route, filter, aggregate, and re-sequence messages based on content and rules.
Data transformation - Exchange data across varying formats and transport protocols.
WHY:
There are several commercial ESB implementations in the market. But many of these are with limited functionality or are built on top of an existing application server or messaging server, locking us into that specific vendor. Whereas Mule is vendor-neutral, so different vendor implementations can plug in to it.
Mule is lightweight but highly scalable, allowing us to start small and connect more applications over time. The ESB manages all the interactions between applications and components transparently, regardless of whether they exist in the same virtual machine or over the Internet, and regardless of the underlying transport protocol used.
HOW:
To get started, we need to install the Anypoint Studio from the Mulesoft offical site (https://www.mulesoft.com/platform/studio).
