Microservices

Microservices make up the foundation of a microservices architecture. The term illustrates the method of breaking down an application into generally small, self-contained services, written in any language, that communicate over lightweight protocols. With independent microservices, software teams can implement iterative development processes, as well as create and upgrade features flexibly.

A microservices architecture — as the name implies — is a complex coalition of code, databases, application functions and programming logic spread across servers and platforms. Certain fundamental components of a microservices architecture bring all these entities together cohesively across a distributed system.

Teams need to decide the proper size for microservices, keeping in mind that an overly granular collection of too-segmented services creates high overhead and management needs. Developers should thoroughly decouple services in order to minimize dependencies between them and promote service autonomy. And use lightweight communication mechanisms like REST and HTTP.