Helidon is a collection of Java libraries for writing microservices. Helidon offers two programming models: Helidon SE and Helidon MP.

Helidon MP is an implementation of the MicroProfile specification. Helidon 1.4.12 supports MicroProfile 3.2. Since MicroProfile has its roots in Java EE, you’ll find that the MicroProfile APIs follow a familiar, declarative approach with heavy use of annotations. This makes it a good choice for Java EE developers.

MicroProfile starts with a core of Java EE APIs, then defines a number of new APIs to add capabilities you need for writing modern cloud native applications:

• JAX-RS

• JSON-P

• JSON-B

• CDI

• MicroProfile Config

• MicroProfile Fault Tolerance

• MicroProfile Health

• MicroProfile JWT Authentication

• MicroProfile Metrics

• MicroProfile OpenAPI

• MicroProfile OpenTracing

• MicroProfile Rest Client

For more information see the Helidon MicroProfile documentation and guides.

In addition to MicroProfile support, Helidon MP provides CDI extensions to address areas not covered by MicroProfile. Examples include:

• DataSource for Oracle UCP and HikariCP

• JPA

• JTA

Helidon is a collection of libraries that runs on top of Netty. It is not derived from a Java EE application server. That means your cloud native application is compact and efficient without unnecessary overhead or bloat.

Try the Helidon MP quickstart to get your first Helidon MP application up and running in minutes.