Definition: Microservices

What is a microservice?

Microservice is an architectural style that structures software applications as a collection of small, independent services that work together to deliver a larger application. Each service is focused on performing a single, specific task and communicates with other services, typically through APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).

Microservices is part of the MACH architecture, which stands for Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless.

What are the benefits of using microservices?

The microservices architecture is designed to address the limitations of traditional monolithic architectures, where a single large codebase is responsible for handling all the functionality of an application. In contrast, microservices break down the application into smaller, more manageable components that can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently. This approach offers several advantages, including:

• Scalability: Individual services can be scaled based on their specific demands to handle varying workloads.
• Agility: Development teams can work independently on different services without being tightly coupled to the overall system architecture.
• Resilience: By decoupling services, failures or downtime in one service do not impact the entire system.
• Flexibility: Companies are not limited to an all-in-one software solution that may lack specific features or functionalities they require. Instead, they can choose the best-of-breed solutions for each individual service and create a tailored and efficient technology stack.