Encore Open Source Backend Framework for Robust Type-Safe Applications

What is Encore?

Encore provides an open-source backend development framework tailored for Go and TypeScript developers seeking to build robust and scalable applications efficiently. It significantly simplifies the development process by automatically generating boilerplate code for communication between services and handling infrastructure integrations. Users can define infrastructure requirements, such as databases, Pub/Sub systems, cron jobs, and secrets, directly within their application code, eliminating the need for complex configuration files and connection strings. The framework ensures end-to-end type safety across services and infrastructure components, reducing runtime errors. Encore also boasts high performance, leveraging Rust-powered components for multi-threaded request handling and validation.

Beyond simplifying code, Encore streamlines the entire development lifecycle, particularly DevOps tasks. It offers an automated local development environment, complete with hot reloading, which mirrors production setups without manual configuration of tools like Docker Compose. An integrated development dashboard provides valuable tools like a Service Catalog, API Explorer, distributed tracing, logging, and automatically generated architecture diagrams. Encore facilitates deployment to any environment supporting Docker images using its open-source tools. For enhanced automation, Encore Cloud offers managed DevOps for AWS and GCP, automating provisioning, deployment, and infrastructure management. The framework is designed to be AI-ready, enabling AI development tools to generate, validate, and document fully integrated distributed systems, moving beyond simple code snippets.

Features

Rust-powered Performance: Utilizes Rust for multi-threaded request handling and validation, achieving high speed.
End-to-End Type-Safety: Ensures type safety across microservices and infrastructure integrations.
Infrastructure as Code: Define databases, Pub/Sub, secrets, caches, and more directly in Go or TypeScript code.
Automated Local Development Environment: `encore run` command sets up the application and all necessary local infrastructure with hot reload.
Integrated Development Dashboard: Provides a local dashboard with Service Catalog, API Explorer, Distributed Tracing, Logging, and Architecture Diagrams.
Simplified API Definition: Turn functions into fully type-safe APIs with minimal code.
AI-Ready Framework: Enables AI tools to generate and validate complete distributed systems, including services, APIs, and infrastructure.
Cloud Deployment Automation (Encore Cloud): Automates infrastructure provisioning, deployment, and management on AWS/GCP.
Open Source Core: The core framework and CLI tools are open source, allowing deployment flexibility.
Multi-language Support: Build applications using either Go (Encore.go) or TypeScript (Encore.ts).

Use Cases

Building scalable microservices architectures.
Developing event-driven systems using Pub/Sub.
Creating robust and type-safe backend APIs.
Accelerating backend development for startups and scaleups.
Simplifying DevOps workflows and infrastructure management.
Utilizing AI tools for generating complex backend systems.
Building SaaS application backends.
Developing API integrations, such as custom Slack bots.

FAQs

Is Encore Open Source?

Yes, the core Encore framework is Open Source. You can use the Open Source CLI to generate Docker images for your own deployment process if you don't use Encore Cloud.
What programming languages are supported?

Encore currently supports Go (Encore.go) and TypeScript (Encore.ts).
How is Encore different from Terraform?

Encore integrates infrastructure definition within the application code, focusing on the developer workflow for backend systems, whereas Terraform is a general-purpose Infrastructure as Code tool operating separately from application logic. Encore automatically provisions based on the application's structure.
How is Encore Cloud different from solutions like Heroku or Supabase?

Encore Cloud automates DevOps and infrastructure management within your own AWS or GCP account, offering greater control compared to PaaS platforms like Heroku. Unlike backend-as-a-service platforms like Supabase which offer specific services, Encore provides a comprehensive framework for building the entire backend and orchestrates infrastructure within your cloud.
Will I get locked in if I use Encore's Cloud Platform?

No, your application is deployed to your own cloud account without proprietary dependencies. You can always use the open-source Encore CLI to generate standard Docker images and manage deployment yourself.