MuleSoft 4 migration: what are you waiting 4?
By Aaron Wentzell
Are you still working with MuleSoft 3.x or older? With the addition of Mule 4, running on older, unsupported versions can slow your pace of innovation. Mule 3.7 and older is no longer supported as of January 25, 2020, and 3.8 support ended in January 2021. Don’t get left behind — take advantage of Mule 4’s exciting updates, additions, improvements, and bug fixes for better usability!
Why migrate?
Mule 4 has simplified language, streamlined management, and redefined APIs, enabling you to build and deploy applications faster and more effectively. It also promises to reduce management complexity and accelerate your application development with up to 50% fewer steps and concepts to learn.
With significant updates to make the system easier to use, Mule 4 has improved simplicity and capabilities, allowing users to learn and implement quickly. For example, Mule 4 includes a simplified Mule Event and Message model. In Mule 4, Flows are triggered by an Event. An Event has a Message and variables associated with it. This simplified message model makes it easier to work with data in a consistent way across connectors without information being overwritten.
Migrating will make your integrations easier and smoother, ultimately providing better value to both your business and your consumers.
What’s new in Mule 4?
In addition to improving usability, Mule 4 also comes with a lot of additions to enhance your integrations, ranging from DataWeave 2.0, an improved Anypoint Visualizer, connector updates, improved error handling, and more.
DataWeave 2.0
In Mule 4, DataWeave is now the default expression language. Combined with built-in streaming capabilities, this simplifies many common tasks, and offers the following improvements:
- Language simplifications
- Script packaging and re-use
- Multi-line comment support
- Calling Java methods directly from DataWeave
Anypoint Visualizer
Mule 4’s Anypoint Visualizer gives users an overarching view of their entire application network all in one place, including their application’s connectivity, complexity, and dependencies.
Connector updates
A number of updates have been made to connectors, ranging from database connectors, file and FTP connectors, and HMS connector. These updates make the connectors operation-based so they share the same set of operations to enable more capabilities.
Error handling
In Mule 4, error handling is no longer limited to a Java exception handling process requiring checking source code or forcing an error to understand issues. It now introduces a formal error concept that declares the types of errors, making it easier to use and helps you identify potential errors during the design phase.
How do you prepare for a Mule 4 migration?
There are a number of steps to take to prepare for a successful migration. It’s important to review how many flows you need to migrate to Mule 4, and how complicated they are. This will help you understand how long your migration will take. Next, you should check how many consumers use your integrations to determine which services to migrate first.
Most importantly, connect with a trusted implementation partner who can help you understand, prepare for, and support your Mule 4 migration. With trusted expertise and experience, an implementation partner will collaborate with you to perform a discovery of your current Mule environment, provide a detailed assessment for a planned migration, and can even complete the migration for you.
Our team of certified MuleSoft developers and architects who’ve completed hundreds of integration projects are here to help you migrate to Mule 4. Contact us today!
Migrating to Mule 4, and taking advantage of all the improvements and updates it has to offer, will help you get your integration engine running better than ever to provide improved value for your business, consumers, and clients — so what are you waiting 4? (get it?!)
About the author
Aaron is the Director of Professional Services for the MuleSoft Practice at Bits In Glass. He specializes in the design and development of enterprise-level integration, migration, and web-based technologies. Aaron brings over 20 years of expertise in IT Development, ranging from start-ups and small companies to large enterprises working on volatile markets. Outside of work he enjoys cycling, spending time outside with his dog, and downhill skiing.
