Motivations for Decomposing Monolithic Applications into Microservices
Tags: webdev, beginners, programming, microservices
Published: 2023-04-18 18:47:25

If you have a monolithic service or application that you want to break down into smaller components, taking an incremental approach is highly recommended. This will allow you to learn about microservices gradually and minimize the risk of making mistakes (which are bound to happen). Instead of trying to tackle the entire monolith at once, think of it as a block of marble that you can chip away at little by little. Trying to blow it up all at once is not a good idea, as it often leads to negative consequences. By taking an incremental approach, you can achieve your goal of breaking down the monolith while avoiding unnecessary risks and complications.

If we plan to break down the monolith gradually, the question arises as to where we should begin. Although we have identified the seams in our application, it is crucial to determine which one should be extracted first. Instead of dividing things arbitrarily, it is wise to consider which part of the codebase will yield the most significant benefits when separated. Therefore, we need to consider some factors that can guide us in selecting the right chisel to start with.

### Pace of Change

If we anticipate upcoming changes in our inventory management approach, it could be advantageous to initiate the decomposition process by separating the warehouse seam into a microservice. This approach can enhance our ability to modify the service promptly and effectively since it operates autonomously.

### Team Structure
Microservices can bring numerous benefits to a team's structure, promoting autonomy and flexibility. By breaking down the monolithic application into smaller services, developers can take ownership of the services they are responsible for, and can work in smaller teams that focus on specific areas of functionality. This allows teams to be more autonomous and make faster decisions, reducing the need for coordination with other teams.

In addition, microservices can facilitate easier integration of new team members into the project, as they can quickly become familiar with specific services and contribute to their development without having to understand the entire monolith. The modular structure of microservices also makes it easier to reuse code between services and build new services on top of existing ones, providing a more agile and flexible development process.

Microservices can also lead to improved scalability, as individual services can be scaled up or down independently based on their specific usage patterns. This can improve performance and reduce costs, as resources can be allocated more efficiently to meet demand.

### Security
Microservices can also provide advantages when it comes to security. Breaking down the monolith into smaller, independent services can reduce the potential impact of security breaches. For instance, if a security breach occurs in one service, the impact will be limited to that service only, and not affect the entire application. This is because each service has its own codebase, data store, and API, which reduces the attack surface area.

Moreover, microservices enable teams to apply different security measures to each service based on its specific requirements. Teams can implement security protocols that are tailored to the specific needs of each service, rather than having a one-size-fits-all approach that may not be suitable for all components of the monolithic application. This can enhance the overall security of the application, as teams can focus on specific vulnerabilities and protect against them more effectively.

In addition, microservices can provide better control over data access and usage. Each service can have its own data store, and teams can implement access controls that limit who can access, modify, and delete the data within each service. This can prevent unauthorized access and ensure that sensitive data is protected.

### Technology
Technology stacks play a vital role in the development and deployment of microservices. Microservices architecture allows teams to choose different technologies for each service, enabling them to select the best-suited tool for the specific service's needs. This results in a diverse technology stack for a microservices-based application.

One of the primary technology stacks used in microservices is containerization. Tools like Docker and Kubernetes are used to package, deploy, and manage individual microservices. Containers provide a lightweight and isolated runtime environment for each service, making it easier to deploy and scale services independently.

API gateways are also commonly used in microservices architecture. An API gateway sits between clients and microservices, providing a single entry point for all service requests. API gateways can perform various tasks, such as routing requests to the appropriate service, handling authentication and authorization, and rate-limiting requests to prevent service overload.

Another technology that is often used in microservices is event-driven architecture. This approach involves services communicating with each other via events and messages. Event-driven architecture allows for loosely coupled services and enables asynchronous processing, improving the scalability and resilience of the application.

In addition, cloud platforms are often used in microservices-based applications. Cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud provide a range of services and tools that can be used to deploy, manage, and scale microservices. Cloud platforms also offer features like auto-scaling, load balancing, and serverless computing, which can help optimize the performance and cost of microservices-based applications.

Finally, technologies like service discovery, monitoring, and tracing are also important for microservices architecture. Service discovery enables services to locate and communicate with each other, while monitoring and tracing tools allow developers to monitor the performance of individual services and identify issues quickly.

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