The open source JVM-based framework promises to reduce runtime overhead, memory usage Credit: Thinkstock Micronaut, a JVM-based framework for building microservices applications, promises to aid startup times, throughput, and memory footprint. The features in Micronaut Micronaut is designed to function as both a client and server framework in a microservices environment. Key to Micronaut is the use of annotation processors that precompile metadata and information needed to run an application. This results in reduced runtime overhead for memory consumption and startup time. The framework also offers support for unit testing and minimal use of reflection and proxies. To build applications, developers can use any JVM language, but to use annotation processing, they must use Java, Kotlin, or Groovy. Micronaut takes its inspiration from Grails, with many Micronaut features accessible from existing Grails applications. Other features of Micronaut include: Dependency injection and inversion of control. Defaults and autoconfiguration. Service discovery. An HTTP client and server built on the Netty network application framework. Client-side load-balancing. Support for functions and deploying applications to the AWS Lambda server-less computing platform. Developers of Micronaut also want to add other capabilities later, including: Support for message-driven microservices. Streaming applications. WebSocket support. Where to download Micronaut You can download Micronaut from its GitHub repo. The open source framework from Object Computing, developed by the team that also built the Grails web framework, is scheduled to move to beta release next week, with the production Version 1.0 expected to ship later this year. Software DevelopmentJava