Metrics, Logs & Traces (The 3 Pillars)

Summary

Metrics are numeric measurements over time, logs are discrete event records, and traces follow a single request across multiple services — together they give a complete picture of system behavior.

• 1Identify a real debugging scenario and which pillar (metrics, logs, or traces) would help most.
• 2Learn why traces are especially critical in microservice architectures where one request touches many services.
• 3Understand these three pillars are complementary, not redundant with each other.