In recent years, the idea of microservices has seen a meteoric rise in popularity due to the fact that it provides a superior strategy for the development of server-side software in comparison to monolithic backends.
Microservices allow businesses to partition large, complicated systems into several smaller, self-contained components that may be independently created, deployed, and scaled. Nevertheless, the same strategy has not been implemented for frontend codebases, which continue to be a difficulty for a lot of different businesses.
Micro frontends are an important part of modern web development since they provide the necessary organizational structures and architecture to facilitate the construction of modern websites. Micro frontends are an architectural approach that decomposes frontend monoliths into smaller and simpler parts. This makes it easy to develop, test, and deploy them separately while giving clients the impression that they are purchasing a single unified product.
When it comes to developing web apps, programmers face a variety of obstacles that can be circumvented with the help of this technology. One of the most significant advantages of using micro frontends is that they enable businesses to construct a progressive or responsive web application in a manner that is less time-consuming and more cost-effective.
As developers attempt to integrate new features into an existing codebase, they frequently run into problems.
Because micro frontends allow for seamless integration, new features can be added without worrying about how the overall application architecture will be affected. In a similar vein, when utilizing newly introduced JavaScript language capabilities, it may be challenging to incorporate the appropriate build tools into an already established construction procedure.
Developers are able to employ new language features, thanks to the availability of micro frontends, which frees them from the responsibility of incorporating these capabilities into the existing codebase. In addition, micro frontends facilitate the scaling of the development process, making it possible for numerous teams to work concurrently on a single project.
This is due to the fact that the smaller, more independent pieces make it simpler for each team to work on particular components of the program without having to be concerned with the architecture of the application as a whole. The modular architecture of micro frontends minimizes the coupling and complexity that frequently plagues large, monolithic codebases, which allows for increased efficiency in the development and deployment processes.
The micro frontends strategy was included in the 2016 edition of the Thoughtworks Technology Radar as a method that businesses ought to evaluate. Later on, the method was advanced to the trial phase. Eventually, it was adopted, suggesting that it is a tried-and-true strategy that businesses should implement whenever it makes sense to do so.
With the help of micro frontends, businesses can take advantage of a web development strategy that is both more effective and scalable, which makes it much simpler to provide customers with high-quality experiences.
What exactly are these micro frontends, then?
What are some of the most important benefits and challenges associated with it?
How will we put these into action?
How can we tell if they are genuinely contributing to the development of a better product for us to sell?
Today, I’d like to discuss the topic and advise you on how to get started with micro frontends.
1. What are Micro Frontends?
Micro frontends are a way to build software that divides the front end of an application into several separate and independent parts. Each of these parts is built and owned by a different team. This method is especially useful for larger applications with many sections or features, because it lets different teams take responsibility for different pieces of functionality and build them separately.
Even though each team may be in charge of different parts of the overall development process, they all want to ensure that the final product gives users a consistent experience. This can be done with an overarching “shell” that has the agreed-upon design language for each team and makes it easy for all the parts to talk to each other.
Developers can also use their favorite web development programming languages with this microservice architecture without affecting other teams that may be using a different technology stack. It also helps reduce dependencies by making sure that a change to one part doesn’t mean that any other part of the system needs to be reworked.
A microservice architecture also helps break up big projects into smaller, easier-to-handle pieces. This gives teams more freedom in how they divide up the work and makes scaling and deploying features easier.
An online store is a good example of a microservices architecture. One team builds the shopping cart, while another keeps track of user profiles, takes care of order fulfillment, manages inventory, and so on.
Then, all of these separate parts are put together to make one unified user experience. This is done with an overarching shell that ties everything together and makes sure that all of the parts use the same design language, communication protocols, etc.
The idea of microservices can be taken even further with “micro frontends.” Each component of a micro frontend is made up of multiple front-end applications that were built separately, each with its own automated build pipeline, continuous integration/delivery workflow, language compilation systems, and so on.
At runtime, all of these applications are combined under one URL or domain name. This lets groups work together more effectively on large projects using best practices from DevOps, like version control systems (Git), automated builds (Jenkins/Travis CI), etc., without having to worry about compatibility issues between components or third-party integrations during development and deployment.
2. The Benefits of Implementing Micro Frontends
Micro frontends have become a popular way to build enterprise applications because they offer many benefits over traditional methods. Micro frontends’ main benefits are a faster time to market, better scalability and maintainability, faster team speed, and a greater ability to be extended. In this article, we’ll examine how micro frontends can be used to get these advantages.
First, let’s think about how quickly products can get to market. By separating the front end of an application into separate micro-services, development teams can make isolated parts that can be deployed more quickly than traditional monolithic applications. Also, teams don’t have to work together as much because they can do their work on their own until it’s time to merge their code. This cuts the time it takes to add new features and updates by a huge amount.
Second, using micro frontends makes scaling and maintenance much easier in many ways. By breaking the application into smaller parts, each part can be scaled and managed on its own, which makes it easier to find and fix problems quickly. Also, each service is easier to debug and refactor, which makes the system easier to add to.
Third, using micro frontends makes the team move more quickly. Members of a development team have more freedom to work on their own without having to rely on other teams. This puts more responsibility on the individual, who is then able to make modules that work with the whole system but stand on their own.
Also, it’s easier for team members to talk to each other because they don’t have to coordinate unless it’s time to merge code. This takes away a lot of the trouble that comes from teams being out of sync and confused.
Fourth, it’s easy to add on to the architecture. With micro frontends, fixing bugs and changing parts of an application is easier. This means that those services can get new features and functions without affecting other parts of the system. Also, changes can be made that don’t need to be made to the whole system, and that can be done quickly.
Fifth, micro frontends are great for teams that work in different places. With this architecture, teams that work in different places can work independently with little coordination, which makes them more effective. Also, this system lets each team keep track of its own part of the application without having to work around other teams or dependencies.
Overall, development teams and businesses as a whole can get a lot out of using micro frontends. There are many benefits, including faster teamwork, the ability to scale, and better extensibility. Those who want to take advantage of this method’s potential should make sure they know about these benefits, while also keeping in mind some of the biggest challenges.
3. Challenges with Using a Micro Frontend Model
Although using micro frontends comes with a number of advantages, there are also a few difficulties associated with employing this style.
The complexity of the architecture presents the most significant obstacle. When there are several different front-end services, each of which is connected with the other, it might be challenging to monitor everything that is happening at the same time.This can make it difficult to discover and fix problems that occur, and it can also make it more difficult for developers to comprehend how everything is connected to one another.
An additional obstacle is the requirement for a testing technique that is more resilient. When there are many distinct services, all of which are talking with one another, it is essential to have a testing plan that can guarantee that everything is functioning in accordance with how it was supposed to. This calls for a more complex approach to testing, which sometimes entails a significant investment of time and resources.
One more obstacle is the requirement for open communication and cooperative effort between the different teams. As a result of each team being responsible for a distinct component of the application, it is essential to have open communication channels and tools for collaborative working in order to guarantee that all parties are on the same page. This may prove to be difficult, particularly for larger companies that have multiple teams working on various components of the program.
Last but not least, there is the difficulty of selecting the appropriate technological stack. Because micro frontends allow each team to choose its own technology stack, it may be more difficult to assure interoperability across the various components of the program. It is essential to not only have a comprehensive knowledge of the various technologies that are being implemented, but also to have a strategy in place to ensure that everything can be integrated without any hitches.
4. Strategies for Developing and Deploying Micro Frontends
Compared to traditional monolithic apps, developing and deploying micro frontends poses a new set of issues. To enable the effective development and deployment of these apps, best practices and strategies should be thoroughly considered.
Micro Frontend Architecture Development
The first stage in designing a micro frontend application is to design an architecture that permits the development and deployment of multiple components separately but concurrently. These may contain client-side libraries, web application frameworks, databases, cloud services, and so on. It is essential to build a scalable architecture in order for the application to adapt to the changing needs of its users.
APIs
APIs can be used to specify communication patterns among micro frontend components so that they can communicate with one another. These APIs can facilitate the sharing of data and functionality and provide an abstraction layer between components so that they are not directly dependent on one another. Having well-defined APIs makes it easy to reuse code across multiple components while assuring their consistency.
Building Using Modules
When developing micro frontends, it is essential to consider how each component will function independently while collaborating with other components. This can be accomplished by creating modules containing all the necessary code for a certain feature or functionality within a component. This makes it simpler for developers to divide the feature into smaller jobs that can be managed and deployed independently while being part of the same system.
Applying Version Control
Version control is critical for designing micro frontends because it enables developers to track changes made over time and more easily manage conflicts when merging various versions. Additionally, employing version control enables developers from multiple teams/locations to collaborate on a project without having to manually merge code each time a team member makes a change.
Testing Strategies
Like with any software development project, incorporating tests throughout the development process ensures that functionality performs as expected at all phases of development. By utilizing automated tests such as unit tests, integration tests, and regression tests, teams may identify issues early on, thereby saving time and money in the long run. In addition, continuous integration pipelines can assist with testing during deployment phases and provide an overview of how changes affect an application’s performance over time.
Deployment Strategies
Whenever an application is ready for deployment, there are a number of factors to consider, such as what environment(s) the application will deploy into (i.e., production versus staging) and if there will be any rollbacks or rollouts associated with specific codebase changes. Also, it is crucial to consider how deployments will fit into your CI/CD pipelines if you want automatic deployments to occur at regular intervals or in response to certain triggers (e.g., new commits being pushed into source control).
Overall, employing these tactics can assure the successful development and deployment of micro frontend apps, as well as reduce the likelihood of problems arising later due to inappropriate communication between application components or a lack of version/code control procedures.
5. Measuring Success with a Micro Frontend Architecture
When a company or organization decides to use a micro frontend architecture, it is crucial to assess the success of their new architecture.
Many metrics can be utilized to determine the effect of micro frontends on your application’s overall performance and user experience.
One method for gauging the success of a micro frontend is to compare the application’s performance before and after adopting the design. This comparison can shed light on whether the transition from a standard monolithic architecture to a micro frontend architecture enhanced or degraded application performance.
In addition, monitoring the loading time of each component can reveal whether or not they are appropriately optimized and suggest places where additional optimization is required.
While measuring success with micro frontend architectures, the user experience should also be evaluated. Page load speed, ease of website navigation, data loading times, reaction times for user activities (e.g., form submission), and application stability are a few important user experience considerations.
In addition, assessing customer satisfaction surveys and feedback forms can reveal how users perceive the functioning of your application, as well as identify prospective improvement areas and problems that require attention.
It is important, as well, to consider how micro frontends have affected developer productivity and satisfaction. Development speed (how quickly can a developer make changes or build new features?), scalability of the development team (can you quickly onboard new members?), code maintainability (do developers find it easier to manage an entire system composed of small components?), etc., can all indicate whether or not developers have benefited from using this methodology.
When evaluating the success of an implementation, cost savings should be considered last. This involves considering both operational expenses (the cost of operating an application) and development costs (the cost associated with developing new features).
Comparing pre-implementation and post-implementation expenses can provide important information on whether or not investing in micro frontends has been cost-effective over time and assist in identifying areas where resources could be employed more effectively to maximize cost savings.
Ultimately, quantifying the effectiveness of a micro frontend architecture requires evaluating multiple aspects, including performance metrics, user experience metrics, developer satisfaction levels, and cost savings over time, in order to determine how advantageous this strategy is for your firm.
Using these metrics effectively will enable you to make well-informed decisions regarding your implementation, while also allowing you to continually improve your architecture over time to maximize its future performance.
Like every technology, micro frontends are not the be-all and end-all of web development, but they are a very exciting new approach that has been tried and tested for years on the backend. For new projects and for old projects alike, micro frontends can give you the flexibility and scalability to compete in the modern market.
