DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Refcards Trend Reports Events Over 2 million developers have joined DZone. Join Today! Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile Manage Email Subscriptions Moderation Admin Console How to Post to DZone Article Submission Guidelines
View Profile
Sign Out
Refcards
Trend Reports
Events
Zones
Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
What's in store for DevOps in 2023? Hear from the experts in our "DZone 2023 Preview: DevOps Edition" on Fri, Jan 27!
Save your seat

A Beginner's Guide to Mule

In this post, we take a quick, introductory look at how to create applications using Mule and the ways to work with Anypoint Studio.

Pryank Gupta user avatar by
Pryank Gupta
·
Feb. 14, 18 · Analysis
Like (16)
Save
Tweet
Share
53.69K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

Mule Application Building Blocks

Mule application building blocks are separated into categories in the Mule Palette:

Image title

Message Sources :

The first building block of most flows is a receiver that receives new messages and places them in the queue for processing.

  • Message sources are usually Anypoint Connectors.

  • Connectors provide connectivity to external resources, such as:

    •  Databases, protocols, or APIs.

    • Standard protocols like HTTP, FTP, SMTP, AMQP.

    • Third-party APIs like Salesforce, Twitter, or MongoDB.

Anypoint Connectors :

  • Anypoint Platform has over 120 pre-built connectors:

    • 30 bundled with Anypoint Studio.

    • Additional ones available in the Anypoint Exchange.

  • Connectors are accessible directly from Anypoint Studio or at https://www.mulesoft.com/exchange

  • There are 2 main types:

    • Endpoint-based connectors

    • Operation-based connectors

Endpoint-Based Connectors :

  • Are either inbound or outbound endpoints in a flow.

  • Inbound endpoints serve as a message source for a flow.

  • Outbound endpoints send information to external systems.Image title

Operation-Based Connectors :

  • These connectors require the specification of an operation in order to perform.

  • This category includes most connectors not based on a standard communication protocol

Image title

Connector vs Endpoint :

  • A connector is a Mule-specific connection to an external resource of any kind.

  • An endpoint is a flow-level element that is configured to receive and/or send messages from and/or to external resources.

  • When you drag a connector from the Mule Palette, an endpoint is created.

  • Connectors and endpoints are global elements.

Creating Mule Applications With Anypoint Studio

Anypoint Studio is an Eclipse-based integration development environment that provides:

  • Two-way editing between graphical and XML views.

  • Visual debugging (EE).

  • A data transformation framework and language (EE).

  • One-click deployment of applications.

  • Templates for common integration patterns (EE).

  • Integration with Maven for continuous build processes.

Anatomy Of Flow: VisualImage title

Anypoint Studio Anatomy:Image title

Running an Application:

Anypoint Studio comes with an embedded Mule runtime to test applications without leaving it.

The console outputs application logs and information:

Image title

Testing Applications to Make Requests to an Endpoint:

Some options:

  • A browser.

  • A cURL command-line utility.

  • A browser extension like Postman (for Google Chrome).Image title

Introducing Mule Flows and Message

Mule Flows

Mule applications accept and process messages through a series of message processors plugged together in the flow.


Image title

A typical flow has:

  • Message Source  - Accepts a message from an external source, triggering the execution of the flow.

  • Message Processors - Transforms, filters, enrichs, and processes messages.

An application can consist of:

  • A single flow.

  • Multiple flows connected together to create more complex applications.

Anatomy of  a Flow :Image title

Mule Message
Image title

application Connector (mathematics) Flow (web browser)

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Popular on DZone

  • How To Use Terraform to Provision an AWS EC2 Instance
  • New MacBook Air Beats M1 Max for Java Development
  • Insight Into Developing Quarkus-Based Microservices
  • How ChatGPT Is Revolutionizing the World of Natural Language Processing

Comments

Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com
  • +1 (919) 678-0300

Let's be friends: