10 Reasons Why Microservices Are the Future
Microservices are an architectural framework for building applications as a combination of small, autonomous services formed independently around a particular business domain. The microservice architecture stands in stark contrast to the traditional monolithic systems in which all components are developed together. Traditional monolithic systems (such as Java EE or other classical infrastructures) contain everything needed to run an application on a single server. Therefore, if any change or update is required, the developers need to develop and deploy the whole stack at once.
1. Flexibility
Microservices give developers the flexibility to use different languages and frameworks for each set of services in an application, while simultaneously enabling communication between them; this independence enables the maintenance of individual services without affecting the others. For example, prior to using microservices, when The Guardian wanted to introduce a change to their website that affected only event listings, they had to modify the functionality of the whole site. Today, however, they can add or delete sections on the fly, like event listings, enabling swift changes when needed.
2. Reusability
An organization that develops and implements a microservices architecture will be able to reuse its core architecture on future projects, regardless of the programming language or other development tools used.
3. Reduces Risk
Each microservices service is a separate object in the framework, so each service is independently functioning. Therefore, if one component is down, the complete application continues its operation instead of influencing the whole process. In this way, only one element needs to be fixed or rebuilt. This decreases the risk of business applications falling.
4. Scalability
Another advantage of microservices is the ability to scale different components at various rates, unlike monolithic architectures which require scaling of the whole application. This allows microservices to let a system extend fast without a need for an increase in resources, as new components can be added without downtime or redeployment of the entire system. That has allowed Airbnb to see a 15 hour delay in deploying code to production and grow their platform’s code by 500 000 lines while increasing their number of software engineers from 200 to 1000. As a result, today they have improved page load performance and 100% availability.
5. Reduces Cost
Microservices also enable organizations to optimize their resources. Various teams can work on different services, which allows them to operate more quickly. Consequently, development time is reduced and by separating services, expensive machines can be avoided.
6. Continuous delivery
The microservices development model uses a continuous delivery process. When developers and testing teams work together on a single service, the testing process is streamlined. This method allows organizations to continuously develop and test the code as well as use it from existing libraries.
7. Various data storage
Microservices, unlike monolithic architectures, enable the storage of data in different locations. Some companies deal with large data sets that have various characteristics. Consequently, it may be costly. However, with microservices, developers can choose a storage type that is most appropriate for each service.
8. Easy team collaboration
The independent development and integration of microservices enable efficient and lean teams to focus on specific services. According to Netflix, 25 engineers working in a single project faced difficulties and inefficiency when trying to work together. However, moving to microservices allowed them to split one team into many small, independent engineering teams that could work independently and efficiently.
9. Adaptability
Using microservice architecture, organizations can employ a variety of programming languages or tools when building a new feature for their business. This allows developers to implement fast and controlled upgrades without disruption.
10. Agility
Microservice architecture allows for the simplification of releasing, scaling and testing apps because each service performs one function. Amazon, who was running a monolithic architecture, migrated to microservices in order to simplify their complex team structure and replace it with smaller, more efficient teams that were cross-functional.
Article published by ATeam Soft Solutions
