ing to production readiness in the coming months.</p><h2 id=istio-and-sidecars>Istio and sidecars</h2><p>Since its inception, a defining feature of Istio’s architecture has been the use of <em>sidecars</em> – programmable proxies deployed alongside application containers. Sidecars allow operators to reap Istio’s benefits, without requiring applications to undergo major surgery and its associated costs.</p><figure style=width:100%><div class=wrapper-with-intrinsic-ratio style=padding-bottom:43.77782985