What does "distributed tracing" mean in programming?
distributed tracing is one of the most common terms in software development. This guide explains what it means, how it is used in practice, and why it matters, with real examples from the developer world.
Definition
Tracking a request as it flows through multiple services in a distributed system. Each service adds a span to the trace, recording what it did and how long it took. Traces let you see the full path of a request — which service was slow, where errors occurred. Tools: Jaeger, Zipkin, Datadog APM.
Example
"The slow API response was a mystery until we looked at the trace: the database query in the auth service was taking 800ms."
Related terms
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