Having a solid software architecture breathes life into tech solutions. In the early stages of an application’s development, critical decisions need to be made, such as whether to go for microservices, a monolithic architecture, the event-driven approach, or containerization. In Java contexts, frameworks and runtimes also need to be defi ned. But one aspect is often overlooked – the persistence layer – which plays a vital role similar to that of data stores in modern cloud-native solutions. To optimize applications and data stores, a holistic understanding of best practices, technologies, and existing approaches is crucial. This book presents well-established patterns and standards that can be used in Java solutions, with valuable insights into the pros and cons of trending technologies and frameworks used in cloud-native microservices, alongside good Java coding practices. As you progress, you’ll confront the challenges of cloud adoption head-on, particularly those tied to the growing need for cost reduction through stack modernization. Within these pages, you’ll discover application modernization strategies and learn how enterprise data integration patterns and event-driven architectures enable smooth modernization processes with low-to-zero impact on the existing legacy stack.