How Microservices Enhances Application Development

Microservice is the name, reflecting that they are smaller, independent services connected via APIs. These independent services allow developers to build services and applications easily.

Microservices are a core part of modern architecture. They have gained immense popularity. The reason is they allow developers to create scalable, manageable, and flexible applications. In fact, microservices are now one of the most acclaimed practices in system design.

Applications built using microservices are composed of small, independently deployable. These services are also referred to as blocks. They communicate with each other through APIs. This approach lets developers break down complex applications into smaller, manageable pieces. What's the result? Scalability becomes easier, maintenance is simpler, and architecture is far more flexible.

In addition, microservices bring other key benefits, including:

• Faster development
• Improved productivity
• Faster deployment
• Cost efficiency
• Improved fault isolation

This guide will explore how applications are developed using microservices. We will also highlight some popular examples. We'll start with the definition and dive into why microservices architecture is crucial for modern DevOps. And how they enhance application development.

What is microservices?

There are two approaches to architecture. The traditional method involves packing the entire service into a single container. The services within the system are tightly coupled with one environment. This is called the monolithic approach.

However, scaling with monolithic architecture is not easy. For example, if you need to scale one service, you often have to scale the entire application. It is not easy for everyone. Moreover, if one service fails, it may affect the whole system. Services in a monolithic setup also require more resources. Furthermore, if a service fails, it can affect the performance of the application as a whole.

On the other hand, microservices in Java are a modern alternative. Developers (or teams) can build and update services independently. This makes it easy for developers to make changes faster without rewriting large portions. And in case any service fails, the rest of the application is not affected, which increases reliability.

Each service in this architecture has its unique functionality. They communicate with other services through APIs like REST or gRPC. This architecture enables the scaling of individual services based on the needs of the project. Thus increasing speed in development and overall agility.

How do Microservices Work?

Essentially, the framework is not a single block. The idea behind microservice architecture is that IT systems are not one but rather an aggregate of smaller, independent services. Each service is autonomous in nature and, thus, has its own logic, database, and API. Therefore, this autonomy allows each service to control its data and business logic independently.

Microservices are the most flexible component for plug-and-play upgrades. It becomes pretty simple to scale any component within an application, which is scaled one service at a time without any interference with the entire system. Containers are mostly used for microservices deployment in cloud platforms, such as Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure. For the efficient use of resources and for managing microservices, tools such as Docker and Kubernetes are excellent.

Of course, no software architecture is flawless. Monolithic systems can also be very effective, and microservices are often regarded as modern solutions for modernization efforts. For example, Netflix greatly improved its performance by switching to microservices, whereas Amazon Prime Video saved over 90% of its costs by moving to a monolithic approach.

Ultimately, pros and cons exist for each of the two approaches. Indeed, microservices can make orchestration very complicated; you really need a well-designed architecture and processes to keep everything running smoothly. Interactions between services can also be challenging, and if the complexity is not managed well, it might become a hurdle.

No architecture is perfect. It all depends on your requirements, whether you take a traditional or modern approach. However, some of the world's largest companies reckon microservices, which we will discuss in the following section.

Popular Examples of Microservices Architecture

1. Netflix
Netflix, in one of its blogs, explained how it reimagined the video processing pipeline by adopting microservices. Netflix's video processing pipeline is built on a foundation of microservices. This service handles tasks like video encoding, content delivery, user recommendations, and billing.

2. Uber
Uber's ride-hailing platform makes use of microservices for core functions like ride requests, driver matching, payment processing, and route optimization. This allowed Uber to dynamically scale its service during peak hours, personalize the experience of the riders, and integrate new features like ride-sharing and food delivery.

3. Spotify
Spotify employs microservices to execute different tasks independently. One of the microservices is used to retrieve songs so that responses are quick and timely for users. Another is for user authentication, which manages access for various types of users. A separate service generates personalized music recommendations based on listening history. Payment processing is handled by a dedicated service so that transactions are managed independently. Spotify is a popular example of microservices architecture.

4. eBay
eBay uses microservices to manage product listings, user accounts, auctions, payments, and customer support in its online marketplace. It enabled eBay to handle a high volume of transactions, improve scalability, and roll out new features and functionalities faster.

How Microservices Enhance Application Development?

Today, they are part of application modernization; however, this is not true in every case. Often, software development companies opt for it as part of Java application modernization. It has never been the case that the need for new features has ever been fully satisfied, given the ever-changing needs of users.

In such cases, businesses often hit a wall when they scale their application built on traditional models. Microservices architecture is popular because it provides a scalable foundation and a flexible option to re-architect digital solutions.

These smaller services can be maintained more easily compared to scanning the entire system every time. It also makes it easier to manage and update individual components without impacting the entire application.

1. Scalability and Flexibility
Microservices are flexible enough to allow you to scale your application comfortably. You do not need to scale the entire system when there are traffic spikes; instead, you can scale only the services that need it. For example, if you own an e-commerce platform, it may contain services like product catalog, user profile, payment processing, and order management.

During a sale event with a heavy load on product browsing by users, you can scale your product catalog service while not scaling all your payment or user profile services. This ensures the best use of resources and maintains performance while certain parts of your application are under heavy load.

2. Faster Development and Deployment
One of the key reasons microservices speed up development is that they allow teams to work independently on different parts of the system. For instance, the payment processing service can be developed by one team, while another works on the order management service. This parallel development helps avoid bottlenecks where one team has to wait for another to finish. Once each service is ready, it can be deployed independently, leading to faster rollouts of features and bug fixes.

For example, once a new feature is added to the user profile service, you can deploy that feature without having to wait for the whole app to be updated. This speeds up delivery and reduces downtime.

3. Resilience and Fault Isolation
Microservices offer a more resilient architecture because if one service fails, the entire system does not go down. For example, if your customer support chat service crashes, the rest of the e-commerce platform—such as the product catalog or checkout service—can continue to function without a hitch. This fault isolation reduces the risk of system-wide failures. If something goes wrong, teams can quickly identify the impacted service and work to fix it without worrying about impacts on other services. A payment gateway, for instance, may be independently restarted without causing any issues with user interactions on the site.

4. Easy to Maintain
Let's assume you need to update the inventory service due to a bug in the stock count. With microservices, it's possible to update only the inventory service, so you don't need to worry about other services like user management or even order processing. This modular approach ensures that errors aren't introduced into other parts of the application. Moreover, the smaller size of each service makes finding bugs and fixing them faster.

5. Technology-Agnostic Flexibility and Freedom
Microservices provide the freedom to select the appropriate technology for a service based on its specific needs. A high-performance service like payment processing can be written in a language like Go or C++ for speed, while a service dealing with user profiles can be written in Python or Node.js for ease of use and rapid development. Polyglot persistence also comes with microservices: each service may use the best database. The catalog service can use MongoDB for fast data retrieval, while the order service might use PostgreSQL due to its transactional capabilities.

Team Ownership and Collaboration
Microservices promote decentralized development. Instead of one large team handling the entire system, smaller teams can manage specific services. For instance, one team may handle the checkout service, another the search service, and so on. Each team takes better ownership because they are accountable for the performance and updates of their service. This autonomy enables teams to develop their services independently, reducing the risk of interfering with others' work and ensuring faster delivery and more robust services.

Examples of Microservices Architecture in an E-commerce Platform

Let's take a look at microservices that may exist in an e-commerce microservices-based platform:

• Product Catalog Service
• Order Management Service
• Payment Gateway Service
• User Profile Service
• Shipping and Delivery Service

Characteristics of Microservices

1. Independent Services
Microservices are flexible and scalable architectures that break down the complexity of applications into independent services. Each service operates independently and has its own responsibility. This modular way of approaching application development ensures that each service operates independently, allowing development teams to work on services that will not interfere with others. Independence is what makes it possible to have faster development cycles and simpler maintenance.

2. Clear Responsibility
Each microservice is designed to maintain a specific responsibility and focus on one functionality or business process, so the clear separation of concerns will actually let developers work on different services at the same time, which in turn reduces bottlenecks and increases the speed of deployment. Clear responsibility also helps with easier debugging since problems can be easily isolated within an individual service and eventually pinpointed and addressed.

3. Scalability
Microservices also have the ability to scale significantly. Businesses can increase the resources only for the services that are required and not have the entire system scaled up according to demand. For example, for high-traffic periods, the payment processing service alone could be scaled up without scaling other parts of the application. The targeted scalability optimizes resource utilization and protects performance during unexpected traffic spikes.

4. Easy Communication
Communication between microservices is made easy through lightweight APIs or messaging systems, allowing them to exchange data efficiently. This communication allows services to remain loosely coupled while still interacting seamlessly with one another, providing the flexibility to update or replace individual services without disrupting the entire system.

Fault tolerance is built into the architecture of microservices. When one service fails, it doesn't affect the whole application; the rest of the services will continue to work. This isolation minimizes downtime and ensures high availability.

Microservices are a great way to build and quickly update Java applications' features because each service can be built, scaled, and deployed independently. Agility helps businesses introduce new features or fixes quickly and keep applications up-to-date and responsive to user needs.

Conclusion

Microservices are not always the solution; it largely depends on the nature of the system or application. However, microservices are highly scalable, and this aspect was an integral part of modernizing big Java applications for us. In our case, it worked; however, this might be entirely different for your scenario.

Therefore, if you have questions on how microservices could be advantageous to your development or its relevance, take the time to consider furthering that knowledge. Are you looking to improve your Java application development practices? Or modernize your legacy Java system?

Whether you hire Java developer or want to build an app without the hassle of setting up a team, feel free to reach out. We're here to help.