Introduction to Microservices Architecture (MSA)

Microservices Architecture (MSA) is an architectural style where applications are built as a collection of small, independent services that communicate over a network. Each microservice focuses on a specific business capability, making the application more scalable, maintainable, and flexible compared to traditional monolithic architectures.

1. Overview of Monolithic vs. Microservices Architecture

Monolithic Architecture

• A monolithic application is built as a single, unified unit.
• All components (UI, business logic, database access, etc.) are tightly coupled.
• A single codebase is used for the entire application.
• Typically deployed as a single executable or package.

Challenges of Monolithic Architecture:

✅ Scalability Issues – Scaling requires replicating the entire application.

✅ Slow Development & Deployment – A small change requires redeploying the entire application.

✅ Difficult Maintenance – As the codebase grows, it becomes complex to manage.

✅ Technology Lock-in – Limited to a single technology stack.

✅ Single Point of Failure – If one part fails, the whole system might crash.

Microservices Architecture

• The application is divided into multiple independent services, each handling a specific functionality.
• Each microservice has its own database and communicates with others through APIs (e.g., REST, gRPC, or messaging queues like Kafka).
• Services are loosely coupled, allowing independent development, deployment, and scaling.