Building distributed applications is difficult enough without having to coordinate the actions that make them work This practical guide shows how Apache Zoo Keeper helps you manage distributed systems so you can focus mainly on application logic Even with Zoo Keeper implementing coordination tasks is not trivial but this book provides good practices to give you a head start & points out caveats that developers & administrators alike need to watch for along the way In three separate sections Zoo Keeper contributors Flavio Junqueira & Benjamin Reed introduce the principles of distributed systems provide Zoo Keeper programming techniques & include the information you need to administer this service Learn how Zoo Keeper solves common coordination tasks Explore the Zoo Keeper API's Java & C implementations & how they differ Use methods to track & react to Zoo Keeper state changes Handle failures of the network application processes & Zoo Keeper itself Learn about Zoo Keeper's trickier aspects dealing with concurrency ordering & configuration Use the Curator high-level interface for connection management Become familiar with Zoo Keeper internals & administration tools