From e5c6ec23d400959acc27b82b5fb80d662d7fc0d2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Patrice Chalin Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 14:27:42 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Copyedits of Concepts > Signals > Metrics (#3194) --- content/en/docs/concepts/signals/metrics.md | 42 +++++++++++---------- 1 file changed, 23 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/en/docs/concepts/signals/metrics.md b/content/en/docs/concepts/signals/metrics.md index 0a9970d03c95..bea47a52849e 100644 --- a/content/en/docs/concepts/signals/metrics.md +++ b/content/en/docs/concepts/signals/metrics.md @@ -3,10 +3,10 @@ title: Metrics weight: 2 --- -A **metric** is a **measurement** about a service, captured at runtime. -Logically, the moment of capturing one of these measurements is known as a -**metric event** which consists not only of the measurement itself, but the time -that it was captured and associated metadata. +A **metric** is a **measurement** of a service captured at runtime. The moment +of capturing a measurements is known as a **metric event**, which consists not +only of the measurement itself, but also the time at which it was captured and +associated metadata. Application and request metrics are important indicators of availability and performance. Custom metrics can provide insights into how availability @@ -28,8 +28,9 @@ initialized for you. ## Meter -A Meter creates _metric instruments_, capturing measurements about a service at -runtime. Meters are created from Meter Providers. +A Meter creates [metric instruments](#metric-instruments), capturing +measurements about a service at runtime. Meters are created from Meter +Providers. ## Metric Exporter @@ -39,14 +40,19 @@ open source or vendor backend of your choice. ## Metric Instruments -In OpenTelemetry measurements are captured by **metric instruments**. Such a -metric instrument is defined by a name, a kind, an optional unit and an optional -description. The name, unit and description of such an instrument are chosen by -the developer or defined via +In OpenTelemetry measurements are captured by **metric instruments**. A metric +instrument is defined by: + +- Name +- Kind +- Unit (optional) +- Description (optional) + +The name, unit, and description are chosen by the developer or defined via [semantic conventions](/docs/specs/otel/metrics/semantic_conventions/) for -common ones like request or process metrics. +common ones like request and process metrics. -The instrument type is one of the following six: +The instrument kind is one of the following: - **Counter**: A value that accumulates over time -- you can think of this like an odometer on a car; it only ever goes up. @@ -60,13 +66,11 @@ The instrument type is one of the following six: collected once for each export. Could be used if you don't have access to the continuous changes, but only to the aggregated value (e.g., current queue size). -- **(Asynchronous) Gauge**: Measures a current value at the time it is read. An - example would be the fuel gauge in a vehicle. Gauges are _always_ - asynchronous. -- **Histogram**: A histogram is a client-side aggregation of values, e.g., - request latencies. A histogram is likely a good choice if you have a lot of - values, and are not interested in every individual value, but a statistic - about these values (e.g., How many requests take fewer than 1s?) +- **Gauge**: Measures a current value at the time it is read. An example would + be the fuel gauge in a vehicle. Gauges are asynchronous. +- **Histogram**: A client-side aggregation of values, such as request latencies. + A histogram is a good choice if you are interested value statistics. For + example: How many requests take fewer than 1s? ## Aggregation