Google Cloud has improved its Trace Explorer UI, enhancing the distributed tracing experience for developers and SREs. The new features include a comprehensive filter bar, interactive visualizations, and detailed span analysis tools that facilitate troubleshooting of application latency and errors. This update leverages BigQuery for advanced querying capabilities and is now generally available to all users.

Utilizing distributed tracing with OpenTelemetry can enhance visibility and performance monitoring in Kafka systems, which are inherently challenging due to their decoupled and asynchronous nature. The article compares zero-code and manual instrumentation approaches, detailing their pros and cons, and demonstrates how to effectively implement each to gain better insights into application performance.