Architecture
Microservices is an architectural style in which a large application is built as a collection of small, independently deployable services, each responsible for a specific business capability and communicating via APIs.
Unlike a monolithic application where all functionality is bundled into one deployable unit, microservices decompose a system into loosely coupled services — for example, a separate service each for user authentication, order processing, payments, and notifications. Each service can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently, enabling teams to release features faster without coordinating large multi-team deployments. Microservices also allow polyglot development, where each service uses the most appropriate programming language or database for its specific workload. The complexity trade-off includes distributed system challenges such as network latency, service discovery, distributed tracing, and eventual consistency that must be addressed through patterns like circuit breakers and API gateways.
Example
An e-commerce platform separates its search, cart, payments, and email services into individual microservices so that a bug in the email service cannot take down the checkout flow.
Related terms
Monolithic Architecture
Monolithic architecture is a software design pattern in which all components of an application — user interface, business logic, and data access — are built and deployed as a single, unified unit.
API Gateway
An API gateway is a server that acts as the single entry point for all client requests in a distributed system, routing them to appropriate backend services while handling cross-cutting concerns like authentication, rate limiting, SSL termination, and request logging.
Docker
Docker is an open-source platform that enables developers to build, package, and distribute applications as portable containers, each bundling the application code with its exact runtime environment.
Kubernetes
Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration platform that automates the deployment, scaling, load balancing, self-healing, and management of containerised applications across clusters of machines.
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