Is ‘Microservices’ Just a Buzzword, or Something You Actually Need to Consider?

Once again, there’s a new architectural term being tossed about. Is it something you actually need to understand and consider, or is just another buzzword that will be here today and gone tomorrow? The term in microservices, and it’s a thing because it describes a realistic means for developing new architectures. Whether it’s right for your development project(s) or not depends on the type and size project you’ll be undertaking.

Defining Microservices

Microservices involves breaking down a large, complex application into small, easily managed chunks for faster development and deployment.

Microservices refers to a method of development that breaks each piece of the application down into smaller pieces. The application is then developed as separate components that are written and deployed independently, but work together as would an ordinary application that was designed using the traditional monolithic design concept.

Explaining the Benefits of Microservices

Microservices was one of the hot topics at the recent Big Data Week, where Alex Bordei, project manager at Bigstep, delivered a presentation to explain the concept and how it can help in development. Microservices is a particularly useful concept when developing large, complex applications, such as enterprise software systems and SaaS (Software as a Service solutions that are delivered online).

There are a number of reasons why developing via the microservices concept is beneficial:

• Microservices allows for concurrent development of different components of an application, which speeds up the development process considerably.
• Microservices allows the application components to be spread across numerous servicers, or even different data centers, so the application is significantly more resilient. If a single component is corrupted or disrupted, another can be spun up somewhere else so that the application continues to do what it was built to do.
• Microservices makes it easier to build an application that will scale upwards and outwards easily. In enterprise and Web environments this is critical.

Leveraging the Right Tools to Develop Using a Microservices Architecture

The concepts that microservices is based on have been around some time now. What’s new are the tools and techniques used to develop using a microservices architecture, such as Docker containers.

Just like the term big data, the concept of microservices has been around awhile. For example, SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture) basically works on the same premises. The part of microservices that is new are the tools and techniques. Microservices is one aspect of a larger phenomenon: that of an organization’s IT department transforming towards a DevOps-based culture.

One tool that is immensely helpful in developing via the microservices model is Docker containers. Docker containers are not like virtual machines. Containers are designed to be broken down into the minimal elements necessary to run a single aspect or service of the application. Docker makes it possible to speed up the development and testing processes considerably. However, Docker containers are just one potential tool to enable developers to leverage the microservices concept of building applications.

Does microservices sound like a valuable addition to your development team’s processes and toolbox? You can learn more at Big Data Week.