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Apache Heron

heron.apache.org

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Spec score 7.5 #16 of 25 in Streaming Analytics Software

Spec sheet

What it does
Heron is a real-time, distributed, fault-tolerant stream processing engine.Read 4 Oct 2026 · incubator.apache.org
Purpose
Heron is a real-time, distributed, fault-tolerant stream processing engine.Read 9 Oct 2026 · incubator.apache.org
Security
The GitHub repository page links to a security policy.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
License
The project is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
APIs
The project describes Java and Python Streamlets APIs, a Python API similar to Storm’s, and YAML-based ECO topology stitching.Read 4 Oct 2026 · blog.x.com
Architecture
Heron uses a process-based computing model with topology isolation.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Archive
The Apache Heron GitHub repository was archived on March 3, 2023 and is read-only.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Build requirements
The repository README lists Java 11, Python 3.6, and Bazel 6.0.0 as requirements.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Community support
The README lists user and development mailing lists and a Heron Slack workspace.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Deployment integrations
Twitter’s project announcement describes integration with Apache Mesos, Apache Aurora, Apache REEF, and Slurm.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blog.x.com
Features
Heron supports backpressure, task isolation for troubleshooting, and configuring topologies for latency-sensitive or throughput-sensitive workloads.Read 4 Oct 2026 · blog.x.com
Intended use
The repository describes Heron as a real-time stream processing engine developed at Twitter.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Languages and architecture
Heron uses a process-based architecture and is written in Java, C++ and Python.Read 4 Oct 2026 · blog.x.com
Origin
Twitter developed Heron as a distributed streaming engine and donated it to the Apache Incubator in 2018.Read 4 Oct 2026 · blog.x.com
Project status
The Apache Incubator page says the Heron podling retired on 2023-01-18.Read 9 Oct 2026 · incubator.apache.org
Schedulers
The project lists Kubernetes, DC/OS, Nomad, SLURM and standalone as scheduler deployment options.Read 4 Oct 2026 · blog.x.com
Self-management
Dhalion is described as enabling Heron to self-tune, self-heal and self-stabilize when topologies encounter unexpected behavior.Read 4 Oct 2026 · blog.x.com
State and processing
The project describes stateful and effectively-once processing, with adaptors for Apache Hadoop, Apache BookKeeper and the local file system.Read 4 Oct 2026 · blog.x.com
Stateful processing
Twitter’s donation announcement describes stateful, exactly-once processing with adaptors for Apache Hadoop, Apache BookKeeper, and the local file system.Read 9 Oct 2026 · blog.x.com
Status
Apache Heron retired on 2023-01-18.Read 4 Oct 2026 · incubator.apache.org
Storm compatibility
Heron was designed to retain compatibility with Apache Storm’s data model and topology API.Read 9 Oct 2026 · github.com
Typical workloads
Twitter listed ETL, model enhancement, anomaly and fraud detection, IoT, embedded systems, VR/AR, ad bidding, financial, security and social media use cases.Read 4 Oct 2026 · blog.x.com

Where Specifiction places it

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