I see a two ways to setup client in Ignite:
but can't find any details about the first mode in docs.
What's the difference between two ways?
The first one will start a thick client node that joins the cluster via an internal protocol, receive all of the cluster-wide updates such as topology changes, and support all of the Ignite APIs.
While the second one will start a Java Thin Client which is a lightweight client that connects to the existing cluster node and performs all operations through that node. The thin client does not become a part of the cluster topology.
You can find more details regarding the difference between the client types here.