Explore how implementing long-running services can significantly reduce system complexity in this 54-minute conference talk from Devoxx. Discover various patterns of long-running behavior that allow developers to handle failures more effectively, moving beyond the quick "throw an error" approach. Learn how services can switch to asynchronous responses with persistent state when encountering issues, enabling them to resolve problems over extended periods. Examine concrete examples and patterns, including services that can wait for minutes, hours, or even weeks for other services to become available or for human intervention. Gain insights into proper implementations through hands-on source code examples, and understand how these techniques can simplify system management and improve overall reliability.