As cloud technologies evolve and applications become more complex, microservices are emerging as a very competitive solution for software development.

This will be the topic of this article. But first, let's look at some definitions.

What is a microservices architecture?

Microservices architecture is an approach to software development where an application is broken down into small, autonomous services. Each microservice handles a specific functionality and communicates with other services through lightweight APIs.

Microservices Architecture vs Monolithic Architecture

The “monolithic” architecture is a more traditional way, which integrates all the functionality into a single application, where the components are strictly interdependent. This model simplifies development, but can become cumbersome as the application grows, making it difficult to implement new features and fix bugs. In contrast, the microservices architecture breaks the application into small independent services. This approach divides the functionality and above all offers greater flexibility: teams can work independently on different services, use different technologies for each microservice and scale the components, one by one. 

It should be noted, however, that monolithic architecture can be easier to get started and maintain for smaller applications. 

Let's summarize the advantages of both types of architectures.

Advantages of Microservices

1. Scalability
2. Flexibility in development
3. Maintainability
4. Resilience

On the last point: the distributed nature of microservices increases the resilience of the system because a problem in one service does not compromise the entire application.

Despite the many advantages, adopting microservices has some disadvantages, such as the difficulty of coordinating numerous independent services. Or, the fact that each service exposes a communication interface, increasing the potential attack surface.

Additionally, tracking and resolving issues can be more difficult in a distributed system than in a monolithic application.

Microservices and cloud computing

Cloud computing has played a key role in the rise of microservices. Take AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions, and Azure Functions, which allow you to run code in response to events without managing servers, making it even easier to adopt a microservices architecture.

Containerization

Containerization is the ability to isolate and manage application components efficiently. Take Docker, or Kubernetes, the leading container orchestration system, it facilitates the management and coordination of these containers at scale, offering advanced features such as load balancing, monitoring, and automatic scaling. 

Containerization, therefore, not only supports the implementation of microservices, but also amplifies their benefits, making more agile and scalable management possible.

Microservices Tools and Technologies in 2024

There are a few concepts you should know if you want to get closer to understanding the world of microservices. 

Service Mesh

A service mesh is an infrastructure dedicated to managing communications between microservices. For example, we have tools like Istio and Linkerd.

Serverless

Serverless architectures are becoming increasingly popular for their ability to run code without having to manage the underlying infrastructure. Technologies such as AWS Lambda and Azure Functions are a must-see.

CI / CD

Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines are integral to the success of microservices. Tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, and CircleCI automate the build, test, and deployment process, ensuring that code changes are deployed quickly and with minimal risk.

Bottom line: With the growing adoption of cloud computing, containerization, and serverless technologies, microservices offer unprecedented flexibility and scalability. Despite the challenges, the benefits far outweigh the costs.

(Updated to the year 2024)