What are microservices really all about? - Microservices Basics Tutorial

Summary

This video explains the evolution of microservices, starting with the early days of monolithic desktop applications and their shift to web-based systems. As applications grew more complex, the monolithic model became harder to scale and maintain. The video explores how microservices—small, independent services that communicate over APIs—offer a solution by allowing flexibility, independent scaling, and faster development. However, the microservice architecture also introduces challenges like service discovery and data management. The video concludes by emphasizing that while microservices are powerful, they’re not the right solution for every application, and both monolithic and microservice approaches have their pros and cons.

Takeaways

• 😀 Monolithic applications were once the standard, where all functionality was bundled into a single application and deployed as a whole.
• 😀 With the rise of desktop applications, developers organized code into smaller, more manageable modules, but these were still combined into a single executable for deployment.
• 😀 The advent of web applications allowed users to access software hosted on remote servers, but the underlying architecture remained monolithic—just deployed on a server rather than individual machines.
• 😀 As web applications grew more complex, monolithic architectures became increasingly difficult to manage and scale, especially for high-traffic applications.
• 😀 Monolithic applications face significant deployment and scalability challenges, including the risk of breaking the entire system when a new feature is added or when there’s a need to scale during high-traffic periods.
• 😀 Microservices offer a solution by breaking down monolithic applications into smaller, independent services that can be deployed and scaled independently.
• 😀 Each microservice in an application handles a specific piece of functionality, communicates with others via APIs, and can be scaled based on its own needs (e.g., an e-commerce site could scale the shopping catalog independently from user profiles).
• 😀 The primary benefits of microservices include easier deployment (because services can be deployed independently), scalability (only the most used services need scaling), and flexibility (services can use different technologies or platforms).
• 😀 Despite their advantages, microservices introduce complexities in service management, such as handling service discovery and ensuring reliable communication between services.
• 😀 While microservices are popular, they are not always the best solution for every application. Some systems, especially smaller ones, may still benefit from a monolithic architecture due to its simplicity and fewer moving parts.

Q & A

What is the main concept behind microservices architecture?

Microservices architecture involves breaking down an application into smaller, independent services that are deployed separately. Each service performs a specific function and communicates with other services through APIs, typically REST. This architecture helps address the limitations of monolithic applications, such as scalability and deployment challenges.

How did early computing systems and monolithic applications function?

In the early days of computing, applications were large, monolithic entities that included all necessary functionality in a single executable. As applications grew more complex, developers used modularization within the codebase, but the final product was still one large, indivisible application that was deployed as a single unit.

What were the challenges with monolithic architectures?

Monolithic architectures present challenges such as difficulties in deployment, where any change requires testing and deploying the entire application. They also face scalability issues, where the entire application needs to scale even if only one part of it is under high demand. This results in inefficiencies and higher costs.

How did web applications differ from traditional desktop applications in terms of deployment?

Web applications shifted deployment from individual user machines to centralized servers. Users access the application through a web browser, and the application runs on the server, not on the user's local machine. This model made it easier to manage updates, as changes could be made centrally on the server.

What problem arises when scaling a monolithic application during traffic spikes?

When scaling a monolithic application during traffic spikes (such as in e-commerce), the entire application has to scale, even if only a small portion of it, like the shopping catalog, is under heavy load. This leads to inefficient use of resources, as parts of the application that aren't experiencing high demand still scale unnecessarily.

What are microservices and how do they solve issues faced by monolithic applications?

Microservices are small, independent applications that perform specific tasks. They are deployed separately and communicate through APIs. This approach addresses issues like scalability and deployment challenges faced by monolithic architectures by allowing services to scale independently and be deployed independently.

What are the advantages of using microservices for application development?

The advantages of microservices include: independent scaling of services based on demand, flexibility to use different technologies for different services, easier testing and deployment (since services are separate), and more manageable applications due to the reduced complexity of each service.

How do microservices communicate with each other?

Microservices communicate with each other through standardized APIs, usually using REST. Each service exposes a set of API endpoints that other services can call to retrieve data or trigger actions.

What challenges are associated with microservices architectures?

Microservices architectures introduce complexity, especially in terms of service discovery (knowing where each service is located) and managing communication between services. Additionally, with numerous services in play, managing deployment, coordination, and debugging becomes more difficult.

Are microservices the best solution for all applications?

No, not all applications require a microservices architecture. While microservices are suitable for large, complex applications that need to scale and be independently deployable, simpler applications or those with limited complexity might be better suited to monolithic architectures.