F2st

F2st is a software framework designed to simplify development of real-time, distributed applications. It provides a modular runtime, a declarative data-flow language, and a set of adapters that connect to databases, message queues, and streaming platforms. The framework emphasizes low-latency processing, strong observability, and portable deployment across cloud and on-prem environments.

Origin and name: The project began as an open-source initiative in 2021 by a community of developers and operators who sought a lightweight alternative to heavier data-processing stacks. The name F2st is a stylized form of "fast" and is also interpreted as "Fast to Start".

Architecture and components: Core runtime executes processing graphs; a plugin system adds connectors and processors; a declarative pipeline language expresses data flows; runtime supports asynchronous, event-driven execution with backpressure; built-in testing, debugging, and tracing; configuration via YAML/JSON; deployment targets include Kubernetes, virtual machines, and bare metal.

Use and adoption: Common workloads include real-time analytics, event-driven microservices, and ETL pipelines. Several organizations have piloted F2st for prototyping due to its rapid setup and clear data-flow semantics; some users report a steeper learning curve for the pipeline language.

Governance and licensing: F2st is maintained by an open-source community with corporate sponsorship; the core framework is released under a permissive license, while some ecosystem tools may use different terms. The project maintains a public issue tracker and concise contribution guidelines.

See also: Real-time data processing, Distributed computing, Data pipeline, Event-driven architecture, Kubernetes.