Microservice Architecture
An architectural style structuring an application as a collection of small, independent services.
Definition
Microservice architecture decomposes an application into a collection of small, independently deployable services that each handle a specific business capability, communicate via APIs or messaging, and can be developed, scaled, and deployed autonomously. This contrasts with monolithic applications where all functionality shares a single deployment unit. Microservices enable independent scaling, technology diversity, and faster deployment cycles but introduce operational complexity around service discovery, distributed tracing, and data consistency.
Example
“Netflix's streaming platform consists of hundreds of microservices, separate services handle authentication, content recommendation, video encoding, billing, and playback, each maintained by a dedicated team and deployed independently dozens of times per day.”
Synonyms
- distributed architecture
- service-based architecture
- microservices pattern
Antonyms / Opposites
- monolithic architecture
- monolith
Images
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Related Terms
- microservices
- api-gateway
- service-mesh
- kubernetes