High-Level Programming for Application Networks

Learn about AppNet, a framework for building expressive and high-performance application networks in this 16-minute conference presentation from NSDI '25. Discover how this innovative approach addresses the limitations of current service meshes that rely on low-level specifications and can double RPC latency. Explore how AppNet enables developers to specify rich RPC processing using a high-level language with generalized match-action rules and built-in state management, making it easier to express application-specific functionality like access control based on RPC fields. Understand the compilation process that optimizes specifications into high-performance code by determining optimal placement (client vs. server) and implementation methods (RPC library vs. proxy) for each RPC processing element. Examine the symbolic abstraction and execution techniques used to evaluate semantic equivalence of different runtime configurations for stateful RPC processing elements across arbitrary RPC streams. Review experimental results demonstrating AppNet's ability to express common application network functions in just 7-28 lines of code while reducing RPC processing latency by up to 82%, presented by researchers from the University of Washington, Duke University, and UCLA.