Enterprise Batch Processing with Jakarta Batch - Part 2

Continuing from where thelast blog post left off, let's delve deeper into the intricacies of configuring the chunk in Jakarta Batch. As we've seen, a chunk represents a set of items to be processed as a batch. Now we will explore how to control this process, manage potential errors, and ensure efficient execution.

Configuring the Chunk: Size Matters

One of the critical configurations of a chunk is its size. The chunk size determines how many items the batch job processes before sending them to the writer. It's essential to understand that the right chunk size can significantly impact the performance of your batch job. If the size is too small, you could encounter overhead inefficiencies. If it's too large, memory constraints or transaction timeouts could become a problem.

The following XML snippet illustrates how you might specify a chunk size in your job XML:

<chunk checkpoint-policy="item" item-count="100">
    <reader ref="myItemReader" />
    <processor ref="myItemProcessor" />
    <writer ref="myItemWriter" />
</chunk>

In this example, item-count="100" specifies that the job processes 100 items before invoking the writer. Knowing the ideal chunk size will eventually come down to you measuring and finding out based on your workload.

Error Handling in Chunks

Error handling is another crucial aspect of chunk configuration. In batch processing, it's not uncommon to encounter a situation where a particular item fails to process due to a data issue or a transient system error. Jakarta Batch provides mechanisms to handle such errors gracefully.

You can specify a skippable-exception-classes element in the chunk to define which exceptions should not cause the job to fail but rather skip the problematic item:

<chunk>
    <skippable-exception-classes>
        <include class="jakarta.persistence.NoResultException"/>
    </skippable-exception-classes>

</chunk>

In this setup, if a NoResultException is thrown, the item will be skipped, and the job will continue processing the next item.

Retrying After Failures

Sometimes, failures are not due to the item itself but rather temporary issues like a network outage. Jakarta Batch allows for retrying such items:

<chunk>
    <retryable-exception-classes>
        <include class="java.net.SocketTimeoutException"/>
    </retryable-exception-classes>
</chunk>

Here, if a SocketTimeoutException occurs, the job will retry processing the item before deciding it can't be processed.

Checkpointing for Consistency

Checkpointing is a strategy to ensure that a job can recover from a failure without having to start over from the beginning. By default, the checkpoint occurs after each chunk (defined by the `item-count`). However, you can also use a custom checkpoint policy if your business logic requires it:

<chunk checkpoint-policy="custom" item-count="100">

</chunk>

This level of control can be crucial when dealing with large datasets where restarting a job from the beginning would be very costly in terms of time and resources.

Optimizing Performance

Lastly, consider the transactional behavior and the impact on performance. Using a persistent step-scoped or job-scoped data repository can minimise transaction times and optimise the performance of your batch job.

For instance, employing an in-memory database for intermediate processing steps can drastically reduce the I/O time, making the chunk processing much faster.

Summary

This blog post has taken a closer look at how to configure a chunk in Jakarta Batch. We've covered the importance of chunk size, error handling, retry logic, checkpointing, and performance optimization. Each of these aspects plays a vital role in creating an efficient, robust, and fault-tolerant batch job.

In the next instalment(coming next week!) we will discuss tasks, an alternative to chunks, and when to use each within your Jakarta Batch jobs. We'll also explore the ways to monitor and manage the life cycle of a batch job for optimal operation. Stay tuned to take your Jakarta Batch skills to the next level!