Introduction to micro-services and how they can be used to build scalable and flexible systems
Tags: microservices, architecture, webdev, kubernetes
Published: 2022-12-29 19:38:48

Microservices are an increasingly popular way to build modern, scalable, and flexible applications. With microservices, an application is structured as a collection of small, independent services that communicate with each other using well-defined APIs.
 
This modular approach allows teams to develop, test, and deploy services independently, making it easier to iterate and easier to iterate and release new features. It also allows for more efficient resource utilization, as you can scale individual services as needed rather than the entire application.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at microservices and how they can help you build scalable and flexible systems.

Before we get into Microservices and what they really are, let’s take an insight on monolithic architecture and what it is.

## **Monolithic Architecture**

Monolithic architecture is a server-side system based on single applications. At the initial stage, this architecture makes building and deploying an application quick but poses a lot of challenges along the line.

Some challenges with the monolithic architecture are:

- Traditionally, monolith applications have a lot of shared libraries, so they’re highly dependent on each other. If you change a library, you need to understand that you could effectively take the entire application down.

- Another challenge is that we are constrained to a particular framework and/or language that was initially used in building the application.

## **Microservice Architecture**

Microservices is a software architecture style that structures an application as a collection of small, independent services that communicate with each other using well-defined APIs. These services are designed to be easy to develop, test, and maintain, and they can be deployed and scaled independently.

One of the main benefits of microservices is that they can make it easier to build scalable and flexible systems. Because each service is self-contained and communicates with other services through APIs, you can easily add or remove services as needed without affecting the rest of the system. 

This modular approach can also make it easier to identify and fix issues within the system, as you can focus on a single service rather than trying to debug a monolithic codebase.

There are several other benefits to using microservices, including:

- Increased agility: Microservices allow you to make changes to a specific part of the system without affecting the entire application. This can be particularly useful for organizations that need to quickly iterate and release new features.

- Improved reliability: Because each service is independently deployable and scalable, you can more easily ensure that the system as a whole is highly available. If one service goes down, the rest of the system can continue to function.

- Better use of resources: Microservices can allow you to optimize resource utilization by only scaling the services that need it. This can help you save money on infrastructure costs.

To use microservices, you’ll need to design your application as a collection of independent services that communicate with each other using APIs. You’ll also need to choose a technology stack that supports the development of microservices such as containers and a container orchestration platform like kubernates.

I hope this gives you a good overview of microservices and how they can be used to build scalable and flexible systems. 

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