Using MicroStream persistence with Micronaut

Learn how to use MicroStream as a high-performance persistence layer.

Authors: Tim Yates

Micronaut Version: 3.9.2

1. Getting Started

In this guide, we will create a Micronaut application written in Kotlin.

You will use MicroStream for persistence.

2. What you will need

To complete this guide, you will need the following:

Some time on your hands
A decent text editor or IDE
JDK 1.8 or greater installed with JAVA_HOME configured appropriately

3. Solution

We recommend that you follow the instructions in the next sections and create the application step by step. However, you can go right to the completed example.

Download and unzip the source

4. Writing the Application

Create an application using the Micronaut Command Line Interface or with Micronaut Launch.

mn create-app example.micronaut.micronautguide \
    --features=microstream,serialization-jackson,micronaut-validation \
    --build=gradle
    --lang=kotlin

If you don’t specify the --build argument, Gradle is used as the build tool.
If you don’t specify the --lang argument, Java is used as the language.

The previous command creates a Micronaut application with the default package example.micronaut in a directory named micronautguide.

If you use Micronaut Launch, select Micronaut Application as application type and add microstream, serialization-jackson, and micronaut-validation features.

If you have an existing Micronaut application and want to add the functionality described here, you can view the dependency and configuration changes from the specified features and apply those changes to your application.

Setup IntelliJ IDEA to develop Micronaut Applications.

4.1. Dependencies

The microstream features adds the following dependencies:

build.gradle

kapt("io.micronaut.microstream:micronaut-microstream-annotations")
implementation("io.micronaut.microstream:micronaut-microstream-annotations")
implementation("io.micronaut.microstream:micronaut-microstream")

4.2. Domain object

Create a Fruit class which will be used as the domain object.

src/main/kotlin/example/micronaut/Fruit.kt

package example.micronaut

import io.micronaut.serde.annotation.Serdeable

import javax.validation.constraints.NotBlank

@Serdeable (1)
data class Fruit(
    @field:NotBlank val name: String, (2)
    var description: String? (3)
)

1	Declare the `@Serdeable` annotation at the type level in your source code to allow the type to be serialized or deserialized.
2	Use `javax.validation.constraints` Constraints to ensure the data matches your expectations.
3	The description is allowed to be null.

4.3. Root Object

Create a FruitContainer POJO which we will be used as the root of our object graph.

src/main/kotlin/example/micronaut/FruitContainer.kt

package example.micronaut

import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap

class FruitContainer {

    val fruits: MutableMap<String, Fruit> = ConcurrentHashMap()
}

4.4. Configuration

Add the following snippet to application.yml to configure MicroStream.

src/main/resources/application.yml

microstream:
  storage:
    main:
      root-class: 'example.micronaut.FruitContainer'
      storage-directory: 'build/fruit-storage'

4.5. Command object

And a FruitCommand class which will be used as the command object over HTTP.

src/main/kotlin/example/micronaut/FruitCommand.kt

package example.micronaut

import io.micronaut.serde.annotation.Serdeable

import javax.validation.constraints.NotBlank

@Serdeable (1)
data class FruitCommand(
    @field:NotBlank val name: String, (2)
    val description: String? = null (3)
)

1	Declare the `@Serdeable` annotation at the type level in your source code to allow the type to be serialized or deserialized.
2	Use `javax.validation.constraints` Constraints to ensure the data matches your expectations.
3	The description is allowed to be null.

4.6. Repository

Create a repository interface to encapsulate the CRUD actions for Fruit.

src/main/kotlin/example/micronaut/FruitRepository.kt

package example.micronaut

import javax.validation.Valid

interface FruitRepository {

    fun list(): Collection<Fruit>

    fun create(@Valid fruit: FruitCommand): Fruit (1)

    fun update(@Valid fruit: FruitCommand): Fruit? (1)

    fun find(name: String): Fruit?

    fun delete(@Valid fruit: FruitCommand) (1)
}

1	Add `@Valid` to any method parameter which requires validation.

4.7. Error handling

In the event an attempt is made to create a duplicate fruit, we will catch the exception with a custom class.

src/main/kotlin/example/micronaut/FruitDuplicateException.kt

package example.micronaut

class FruitDuplicateException(name: String) : RuntimeException("Fruit '$name' already exists.")

This exception will be handled by a custom ExceptionHandler to return a 400 error with a sensible message.

src/main/kotlin/example/micronaut/FruitDuplicateExceptionHandler.kt

package example.micronaut

import io.micronaut.http.HttpRequest
import io.micronaut.http.HttpResponse
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.Produces
import io.micronaut.http.server.exceptions.ExceptionHandler
import io.micronaut.http.server.exceptions.response.ErrorContext
import io.micronaut.http.server.exceptions.response.ErrorResponseProcessor
import jakarta.inject.Singleton

@Produces (1)
@Singleton (2)
class FruitDuplicateExceptionHandler(private val errorResponseProcessor: ErrorResponseProcessor<*>) :
    ExceptionHandler<FruitDuplicateException, HttpResponse<*>> {

    override fun handle(request: HttpRequest<*>, exception: FruitDuplicateException): HttpResponse<*> {
        val errorContext = ErrorContext.builder(request)
            .cause(exception)
            .errorMessage(exception.message ?: "No message")
            .build()
        return errorResponseProcessor.processResponse(errorContext, HttpResponse.unprocessableEntity<Any>())
    }
}

1	Ensure the response content-type is set to `application/json` with the `@Produces` annotation.
2	Use `jakarta.inject.Singleton` to designate a class as a singleton.

4.8. Repository implementation

Implement the FruitRepository interface.

When an object in your graph changes, you need to persist the object that contains the change. This can be achieved through the StoreParams and StoreReturn annotations

src/main/kotlin/example/micronaut/FruitRepositoryImpl.kt

package example.micronaut

import io.micronaut.microstream.RootProvider
import io.micronaut.microstream.annotations.StoreParams
import io.micronaut.microstream.annotations.StoreReturn
import jakarta.inject.Inject
import jakarta.inject.Singleton
import javax.validation.Valid

@Singleton (1)
open class FruitRepositoryImpl: FruitRepository {

    @Inject
    private lateinit var rootProvider: RootProvider<FruitContainer> (2)

    override fun list() = rootProvider.root().fruits.values (3)

    override fun create(@Valid fruit: FruitCommand): Fruit {
        val fruits: MutableMap<String, Fruit> = rootProvider.root().fruits

        if (fruits.containsKey(fruit.name)) {
            throw FruitDuplicateException(fruit.name)
        }
        return performCreate(fruits, fruit)
    }

    @StoreParams("fruits") (4)
    protected open fun performCreate(fruits: MutableMap<String, Fruit>,
                                     fruit: FruitCommand): Fruit {
        val newFruit = Fruit(fruit.name, fruit.description)
        fruits[fruit.name] = newFruit
        return newFruit
    }

    override fun update(@Valid fruit: FruitCommand): Fruit? {
        val fruits: Map<String, Fruit> = rootProvider.root().fruits
        val foundFruit = fruits[fruit.name]
        return foundFruit?.let { performUpdate(it, fruit) }
    }

    @StoreReturn (5)
    protected open fun performUpdate(foundFruit: Fruit,
                                     fruit: FruitCommand): Fruit {
        foundFruit.description = fruit.description
        return foundFruit
    }

    override fun find(name: String) = rootProvider.root().fruits[name]

    override fun delete(@Valid fruit: FruitCommand) {
        performDelete(fruit)
    }

    @StoreReturn (5)
    protected open fun performDelete(fruit: FruitCommand): Map<String, Fruit>? {
        return if (rootProvider.root().fruits.remove(fruit.name) != null) {
            rootProvider.root().fruits
        } else null
    }
}

1	Use `jakarta.inject.Singleton` to designate a class as a singleton.
2	Use constructor injection to inject a bean of type `RootProvider`.
3	Return all the values in the `FruitContainer`.
4	With `@StoreParams`, on successful completion of this method, the Map argument `fruits` will be persisted in MicroStream.
5	With `@StoreReturn`, on successful completion of this method, the return value will be persisted in MicroStream.

4.9. Controller

Create FruitController:

src/main/kotlin/example/micronaut/FruitController.kt

package example.micronaut

import io.micronaut.http.HttpStatus
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.Controller
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.Delete
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.Get
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.PathVariable
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.Post
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.Put
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.Status
import io.micronaut.scheduling.TaskExecutors.IO
import io.micronaut.scheduling.annotation.ExecuteOn
import jakarta.inject.Inject
import javax.validation.Valid

@Controller("/fruits") (1)
open class FruitController {

    @Inject
    private lateinit var fruitRepository: FruitRepository (2)

    @Get (3)
    fun list() = fruitRepository.list()

    @ExecuteOn(IO)
    @Post (4)
    @Status(HttpStatus.CREATED) (5)
    open fun create(@Valid fruit: FruitCommand) (6)
        = fruitRepository.create(fruit)

    @Put
    open fun update(@Valid fruit: FruitCommand) = fruitRepository.update(fruit)

    @Get("/{name}") (7)
    fun find(@PathVariable name: String): Fruit? = fruitRepository.find(name)

    @ExecuteOn(IO)
    @Delete
    @Status(HttpStatus.NO_CONTENT)
    open fun delete(@Valid fruit: FruitCommand) = fruitRepository.delete(fruit)
}

1	The class is defined as a controller with the @Controller annotation mapped to the path `/fruits`.
2	Use constructor injection to inject a bean of type `FruitRepository`.
3	The @Get annotation maps the `list` method to an HTTP GET request on `/fruits`.
4	The @Post annotation maps the `save` method to an HTTP POST request on `/fruits`.
5	You can specify the HTTP status code via the `@Status` annotation.
6	Add `@Valid` to any method parameter which requires validation.
7	The @Get annotation maps the `find` method to an HTTP GET request on `/fruits/{name}`.

4.10. Test

Create a test that verifies the validation of the FruitCommand POJO when we invoke the FruitRepository interface:

src/test/kotlin/example/micronaut/FruitRepositoryTest.kt

package example.micronaut

import io.micronaut.test.extensions.junit5.annotation.MicronautTest
import jakarta.inject.Inject
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test
import javax.validation.ConstraintViolationException

@MicronautTest(startApplication = false) (1)
class FruitRepositoryTest {

    @Inject
    lateinit var fruitRepository: FruitRepository

    @Test
    fun methodsValidateParameters() {
        Assertions.assertThrows(ConstraintViolationException::class.java) {
            fruitRepository.create(FruitCommand(""))
        }
    }
}

1 Annotate the class with @MicronautTest so the Micronaut framework will initialize the application context and the embedded server. By default, each @Test method will be wrapped in a transaction that will be rolled back when the test finishes. This behaviour is is changed by setting transaction to false.

Create a test that verifies the validation of the FruitCommand POJO when we create a new entity via POST:

src/test/kotlin/example/micronaut/FruitValidationControllerTest.kt

package example.micronaut

import io.micronaut.http.HttpRequest
import io.micronaut.http.HttpStatus
import io.micronaut.http.client.HttpClient
import io.micronaut.http.client.annotation.Client
import io.micronaut.http.client.exceptions.HttpClientResponseException
import io.micronaut.test.extensions.junit5.annotation.MicronautTest
import jakarta.inject.Inject
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test

@MicronautTest (1)
class FruitValidationControllerTest(
    @Inject @Client("/") val httpClient: HttpClient (2)
) : BaseTest() {

    @Test
    fun fruitIsValidated() {
        val exception = assertThrows(HttpClientResponseException::class.java) {
            httpClient.toBlocking().exchange<FruitCommand, Any>(
                HttpRequest.POST("/fruits", FruitCommand("", ""))
            )
        }
        Assertions.assertEquals(HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST, exception.status)
    }
}

1	Annotate the class with `@MicronautTest` so the Micronaut framework will initialize the application context and the embedded server. More info.
2	Inject the `HttpClient` bean and point it to the embedded server.

We will use temporary directories to persist our data under test.

To facilitate this, create a base test class that handles the creation of a temporary folder, and configuring the application.

src/test/kotlin/example/micronaut/BaseTest.kt

package example.micronaut

import io.micronaut.test.support.TestPropertyProvider
import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir
import java.io.File

abstract class BaseTest: TestPropertyProvider {

    companion object {
        @TempDir
        @JvmField
        var tempDir: File? = null
    }

    override fun getProperties(): MutableMap<String, String> {
        return mutableMapOf(
            "microstream.storage.main.storage-directory" to tempDir!!.absolutePath
        )
    }
}

Create a test which validate FruitDuplicateExceptionHandler.

src/test/kotlin/example/micronaut/FruitDuplicationExceptionHandlerTest.kt

package example.micronaut

import io.micronaut.http.HttpRequest
import io.micronaut.http.HttpStatus
import io.micronaut.http.client.HttpClient
import io.micronaut.http.client.annotation.Client
import io.micronaut.http.client.exceptions.HttpClientResponseException
import io.micronaut.test.extensions.junit5.annotation.MicronautTest
import jakarta.inject.Inject
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test
import org.junit.jupiter.api.TestInstance

@MicronautTest (1)
@TestInstance(TestInstance.Lifecycle.PER_CLASS) (2)
class FruitDuplicationExceptionHandlerTest : BaseTest() {

    @Inject
    @field:Client("/")
    lateinit var httpClient: HttpClient (3)

    @Test
    fun duplicatedFruitsReturns400() {
        val banana = FruitCommand("Banana")
        val request = HttpRequest.POST("/fruits", banana)
        val response = httpClient.toBlocking().exchange<FruitCommand, Any>(request)
        assertEquals(HttpStatus.CREATED, response.status())
        val exception = assertThrows(HttpClientResponseException::class.java) {
            httpClient.toBlocking().exchange<FruitCommand, Any>(request)
        }
        assertEquals(HttpStatus.UNPROCESSABLE_ENTITY, exception.status)

        val deleteRequest = HttpRequest.DELETE("/fruits", banana)
        val deleteResponse = httpClient.toBlocking().exchange<FruitCommand, Any>(deleteRequest)
        assertEquals(HttpStatus.NO_CONTENT, deleteResponse.status())
    }
}

1	Annotate the class with `@MicronautTest` so the Micronaut framework will initialize the application context and the embedded server. More info.
2	Classes that implement `TestPropertyProvider` must use this annotation to create a single class instance for all tests (not necessary in Spock tests).
3	Inject the `HttpClient` bean and point it to the embedded server.

Add a Micronaut declarative HTTP Client to src/test to ease the testing of the application’s API.

src/test/kotlin/example/micronaut/FruitClient.kt

package example.micronaut

import io.micronaut.http.HttpResponse
import io.micronaut.http.HttpStatus
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.Body
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.Delete
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.Get
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.PathVariable
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.Post
import io.micronaut.http.annotation.Put
import io.micronaut.http.client.annotation.Client
import java.util.Optional
import javax.validation.Valid

@Client("/fruits")
interface FruitClient {

    @Get
    fun list(): Iterable<Fruit>

    @Get("/{name}")
    fun find(@PathVariable name: String?): Optional<Fruit>

    @Post
    fun create(@Body @Valid fruit: FruitCommand): HttpResponse<Fruit>

    @Put
    fun update(@Body @Valid fruit: FruitCommand): Fruit?

    @Delete
    fun delete(@Body @Valid fruit: FruitCommand): HttpStatus
}

And finally, create a test that checks our controller works against MicroStream correctly:

src/test/kotlin/example/micronaut/FruitControllerTest.kt

package example.micronaut

import io.micronaut.context.ApplicationContext
import io.micronaut.http.HttpStatus
import io.micronaut.runtime.server.EmbeddedServer
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNull
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test
import java.util.stream.Collectors
import java.util.stream.Stream
import java.util.stream.StreamSupport
import kotlin.streams.toList

class FruitControllerTest : BaseTest() {

    @Test
    fun testInteractionWithTheController() {
        val apple = FruitCommand("apple", "Keeps the doctor away")
        val bananaName = "banana"
        val bananaDescription = "Yellow and curved"
        val properties: Map<String, Any> = super.getProperties()
        ApplicationContext.run(EmbeddedServer::class.java, properties).use { embeddedServer ->  (1)
            val fruitClient = embeddedServer.applicationContext.getBean(FruitClient::class.java)
            var response = fruitClient.create(FruitCommand(bananaName))
            assertEquals(HttpStatus.CREATED, response.status)
            assertTrue(response.body.isPresent)
            val banana = response.body.get()

            val fruitList = fruitsList(fruitClient)
            assertEquals(1, fruitList.size)
            assertEquals(banana.name, fruitList[0].name)
            assertNull(fruitList[0].description)

            var bananaOptional: Fruit? = fruitClient.update(apple)
            assertNull(bananaOptional)

            response = fruitClient.create(apple)
            assertEquals(HttpStatus.CREATED, response.status)

            assertTrue(
                fruitsStream(fruitClient)
                    .anyMatch { (_, description): Fruit -> "Keeps the doctor away" == description }
            )
            bananaOptional = fruitClient.update(FruitCommand(bananaName, bananaDescription))
            Assertions.assertNotNull(bananaOptional)
            assertEquals(
                Stream.of("Keeps the doctor away", "Yellow and curved")
                    .collect(Collectors.toSet()),
                fruitsStream(fruitClient).map { it.description }.toList().toSet()
            )
        }
        ApplicationContext.run(EmbeddedServer::class.java, properties).use { embeddedServer ->  (1)
            val fruitClient =
                embeddedServer.applicationContext.getBean(FruitClient::class.java)
            assertEquals(2, numberOfFruits(fruitClient))
            fruitClient.delete(apple)
            fruitClient.delete(FruitCommand(bananaName, bananaDescription))
        }
        ApplicationContext.run(EmbeddedServer::class.java, properties).use { embeddedServer ->  (1)
            val fruitClient =
                embeddedServer.applicationContext.getBean(FruitClient::class.java)
            assertEquals(0, numberOfFruits(fruitClient))
        }
    }

    private fun numberOfFruits(fruitClient: FruitClient): Int {
        return fruitsList(fruitClient).size
    }

    private fun fruitsList(fruitClient: FruitClient): List<Fruit> {
        return fruitsStream(fruitClient)
            .collect(Collectors.toList())
    }

    private fun fruitsStream(fruitClient: FruitClient): Stream<Fruit> {
        val fruits: Iterable<Fruit> = fruitClient.list()
        return StreamSupport.stream(fruits.spliterator(), false)
    }

}

1	Start and stop application to verify the data is persisted to disk by MicroStream and can be retrieved after application restart.

5. Testing the Application

To run the tests:

./gradlew test

Then open build/reports/tests/test/index.html in a browser to see the results.

6. Running the Application

To run the application, use the ./gradlew run command, which starts the application on port 8080.

Create a new fruit

curl -i -d '{"name":"Pear"}' \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -X POST http://localhost:8080/fruits

Output

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
date: Thu, 12 May 2022 13:45:56 GMT
Content-Type: application/json
content-length: 16
connection: keep-alive

{"name":"Pear"}

Get a list of all fruits

curl -i localhost:8080/fruits

Output

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
date: Thu, 12 May 2022 13:46:54 GMT
Content-Type: application/json
content-length: 70
connection: keep-alive

[{"name":"Pear"}]

7. MicroStream REST and GUI

Often, during development is useful to see the data being saved by MicroStream. Micronaut MicroStream integration helps to do that.

Add the following dependency:

build.gradle

developmentOnly("io.micronaut.microstream:micronaut-microstream-rest")

The above dependency provides several JSON endpoints which expose the contents of the MicroStream storage.

7.1. MicroStream Client GUI

Download MicroStream client GUI.

Run the client and connect to the MicroStream REST API exposed by the Micronaut application:

You can visualize the data you saved via cURL.

8. Next steps

Explore more features with Micronaut Guides.

Read more about the Micronaut MicroStream integration. Read more about MicroStream for Java.

Read more about Micronaut Serialization.

9. Sponsors

MicroStream sponsored the creation of this Guide.

Table of Contents