What are Microservices?

Have you ever wondered what is it all about microservice? Have you heard this term and want to know more details? Or maybe you are in the field of web development and want to learn more about microservice technology.

It doesn't matter if your company is a fledgling startup or a large established firm, software developers are on the frontline of any organization's workload. Whether it's building the next version of an application, fixing a technical issue, or creating a new service, there's no shortage of work at any level. In fact, when organizations create more apps and services to grow their business, the demands on getting each app and service up and running as well as scaling and operating them become greater.

What is Microservice?

A microservice is a software component that meets the single responsibility principle, has a well-defined purpose and can be built or used independently. Microservices are small, modular pieces of any software architecture that communicate with each other and can be independently developed. A microservice is a single unit of software that provides a service, usually over a network.

Microservices is a new concept in the high-level architecture of software applications. We can think that our application as a container, and we can divide those containers into smaller parts that we called microservices. We could use and deploy those microservices separately, or we could assemble them to get the final result.

Microservice is a relatively new architecture for developing applications and businesses. You can learn about the benefits of using microservices, how microservices can improve your business, and where to implement microservices in your company in this blog.

What is the Difference Between API and Microservices?

API and microservices are sometimes confused because they both provide interfaces for external consumers.

The most obvious difference is size: microservices are smaller than APIs. But there is more to it than that.

An API is a contract provided by one piece of computer software to another. That contract describes the ways in which the client can interact with the software, and what will happen as a result.

So for example, an API could be used by a client program to access a database stored on the server. The API would describe the table structure, and provide a list of methods (such as "insert this new record") that can be called by the client program.

Microservices are a particular kind of implementation whose goal is to provide interoperability at the process level, i.e., to allow different pieces of code running in different processes on different machines to communicate with each other over the network and coordinate their activities. Microservices typically use APIs as boundaries between different parts of the same process, but they expose their own APIs to consumers in other processes.

What is Microservice Architecture?

Microservice architecture is an architectural style that structures an application as a collection of loosely coupled services, which implement business capabilities. The microservice architecture enables the continuous delivery/deployment of large, complex applications. It also enables an organization to evolve its technology stack.

Microservice architecture is the division of a system into small services, each of which works independently and communicates with each other through open protocols.

The design principle of microservice architecture is that an enterprise application should be developed as a series of small services, each based on a single business capability and independently deployable. Each service runs within its own process and communicates with other services via HTTP requests or direct calls, using simple data formats such as JSON.

What are the Components of a Microservice?

1. Service Registry: A service registry stores information about the microservice, such as the location of the service and its capabilities.
2. Service Discovery: Service discovery enables services to find and connect to other services, including those in the service registry.
3. Message Bus: A message bus provides a way for services to communicate with each other, for example via asynchronous messaging.
4. API Gateway: An API gateway provides a single entry point for external clients to access the microservices.
5. Load Balancer: A load balancer distributes requests between microservices so they can scale and handle high volumes of traffic.
6. Container Orchestration: Container orchestration tools, such as Kubernetes, manage and coordinate containers running on a cluster of machines.
7. Monitoring and Logging: Monitoring tools track performance metrics and provide visibility into the health of the microservices. Logging tools capture and store logs from the microservices.

How Microservices Benefit the Organization

Microservices is an architectural model that better facilitates the operational model that many business leaders want. The benefits of microservices include:

Longer-lived projects

Because each project has a smaller scope, organizations can support more projects for a longer period of time. The goal is to avoid the "big bang" project, where everything is delivered all at once, in favor of ongoing incremental enhancements to the IT landscape.

More flexibility and choice in technology solutions

Teams can choose the best tech stack for each requirement rather than being locked into a single platform. In addition, because teams are organized around business capabilities or features, they can also make changes in application architecture without impacting other teams.

Quicker response to changing requirements

Because systems are composed of smaller components, teams are able to make changes and deliver value faster, without having to wait for other teams to complete work on the same system or component.

The Organizational Benefits of Microservices

• It's easier to build a diverse workforce when the work is more focused and doesn't require full-stack expertise.
• It's easier to find people with specific skills when the work is more focused.
• It's easier for people to develop their skills in a narrower area, rather than a broad one.
• It's easier for people to move between teams because the services are smaller and more independent.
• It's easier for people to get up to speed on new services because there are fewer moving parts.

What are the Different Types of Micro Services?

1. Data microservices: These are designed to store and manage data quickly.
2. Business microservices: These are designed to handle business logic and processes.
3. UI microservices: These are designed to handle user interface components and interactions.
4. Communication microservices: These are designed to handle communication between services.
5. Orchestration microservices: These are designed to handle the coordination and orchestration of other services.
6. Monitoring microservices: These are designed to monitor the performance and health of services.
7. Security microservices: These are designed to handle security, authentication, and authorization.