Splunk, the leading provider of operational intelligence software used to monitor, report and analyze real-time machine data, released a new plug-in for Eclipse for building applications that use and extend Splunk.

Eclipse is an integrated development environment for open source platforms to develop what the project calls rich client applications, as opposed to the light-weight browser-based applications.  This platform has typically been used by developers to produce Java based applications. However, it can also be used for other types of client applications.

The Splunk plug-in for Eclipse contains a project template for building with the new SDK for Java applications. The template features common SDK tasks snippets for automation, as well as infrastructure for wiring up the application to log application data directly to Splunk using popular log frameworks like Apache Log4J. As a result, it offers developers a wonderful opportunity to work in and get acquainted with this technology. And, it increases productivity and makes code building, testing, debugging, and deploying easier and more streamlined.

By using the plug-in, developers can create modular inputs that extend Splunk and allow it to talk to other internal systems or public APIs, like Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Splunk SDK for Python

Splunk has also released an update to the Splunk SDK for Python that now supports complex search algorithms. Splunk SDK for Python introduces a new library for creating custom search commands that would make developer easy to author new commands. Splunk says the new commands can be used for introducing complex algorithms like doing geo-fencing, linear regression, for doing dynamic queries from public APIs (such as Social or Open Government APIs), or for addressing domain specific concerns like retrieving data from an internal system or applying custom business logic on top of Splunk data.

The objective was to give developers tools that would cut right back on large-scale development efforts. The key driver behind the development of SDK for Python is to help developers quickly get started with Splunk software, leveraging their existing language skills and driving rapid time to value.

The Splunk SDK for Python provides with a familiar developer environment to build applications including support for complex algorithms to retrieve data from public APIs, custom business logic on top of Splunk data, integration of search results on application and retrieval of data from Splunk internal systems.

Splunk continues to enhance its flagship machine data search engine so it can be used by more business analysts and managers. Splunk Cloud service is now powered by Amazon Web services and includes access to Splunk Enterprise apps, APIs, alerting, and role-based access controls. The big data company recently released software developer kits to GA and three new SDKs–for C#, PHP and Ruby–providing developers new tools to build analytics applications on top of Splunk’s machine data indexing platform.