airhacks.fm podcast with adam bien Quarkus gRPC, OpenTelemetry, and the LGTM Stack
Dec 28, 2025
Ales Justin, a dedicated Software Engineer and Quarkus contributor, dives into fascinating topics like Slovenia's Christmas traditions and his journey from Bitcoin to Quarkus development. He discusses the innovative shift from Google’s gRPC to Vert.x-based solutions, detailing the exciting plans for Vert.x 5. Ales also highlights OpenTelemetry integration for improved observability, and how using Grafana's LGTM image simplifies Dev Services. Finally, they tackle challenges in protocol versioning and the benefits of sharing protobuf definitions among projects.
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Risk-Aware Migration Strategy
- Quarkus maintains the battle-proven Google gRPC implementation while developing the Vert.x-based alternative to minimize risk.
- They plan a default switch only after Vert.x 5 resolves remaining edge cases and tests pass.
Joining Quarkus To Own gRPC
- Ales Justin joined Quarkus to take over gRPC work when the previous lead left and integrated Vert.x gRPC into Quarkus.
- He described keeping Google's gRPC as default while progressively stabilizing the Vert.x-based implementation for eventual switch.
Vert.x gRPC Exists In Quarkiverse
- Ales briefly recap: Quarkus can already switch to Vert.x gRPC via configuration, offering an integrated server instead of separate gRPC and HTTP servers.
- The Vert.x option exists in Quarkiverse (gRPC0) and may move into core when stable.