Tomcat, Undertow, Jetty, and Netty: Differences and Characteristics

Tomcat, Undertow, Jetty, and Netty are all popular open-source technologies used for handling network communication in Java applications. While they share some common features, each has its own unique characteristics and strengths.
Tomcat is designed primarily as a servlet container, making it well-suited for running Java web applications based on the Servlet and JSP specifications. It provides a stable and reliable platform for deploying web applications, with excellent documentation and community support. Tomcat is optimized for traditional web applications and performs well in most common use cases.
Undertow is a modern, high-performance web server and application container that can be used as a drop-in replacement for other Java web servers like Tomcat. It excels at handling high concurrency and large numbers of simultaneous connections, making it suitable for scenarios where scalability and performance are crucial. Undertow’s non-blocking architecture and asynchronous processing model allow it to handle large volumes of requests efficiently.
Netty is a network application框架 that provides an API for developing custom network applications. It offers a high-performance, low-latency solution for building protocols servers and clients. Netty is designed for building network applications that require scalability, reliability, and performance, such as distributed systems, games, or real-time applications. It provides an efficient event-driven architecture and supports a wide range of protocols like HTTP, WebSocket, and TCP/IP.
Jetty is a lightweight and efficient Servlet container that emphasizes fast startup times and low memory footprint. It’s often used in embedded scenarios or as a development and testing environment. Jetty provides a stable and secure platform for running web applications and APIs. It’s easy to integrate with other Java technologies and has a small footprint, making it suitable for constrained environments.
In summary, Tomcat excels at running traditional Java web applications, Undertow shines in high-performance scenarios with high concurrency, Netty is ideal for building custom network applications with scalability and low latency requirements, while Jetty is well-suited for lightweight embedded systems or rapid development cycles.