Microservices

What are Microservices

Microservices are an architectural style that structures an application as a collection of small, independently deployable services. Each service runs in its own process, manages its own database, and communicates with other services through well-defined APIs, typically HTTP/REST or asynchronous messaging.

How they work

In a microservices architecture, each service handles a specific business capability: user management, payment processing, notification delivery. Teams can develop, test, deploy, and scale each service independently, using the most appropriate technology for each case. An API gateway acts as a single entry point, routing requests to the corresponding service. Patterns such as service discovery, circuit breaker, and event-driven communication manage the complexity of coordination between services.

Why they matter

Microservices enable teams to work autonomously and deploy more frequently. A failure in one service does not necessarily affect the rest of the application. Each service can be scaled independently based on its specific demand. This flexibility is especially valuable for growing organizations where multiple teams need to iterate quickly without blocking each other.

Practical example

A streaming platform separates its system into independent services: content catalog, recommendation engine, subscription management, video transcoding, and search service. The recommendations team can deploy algorithm improvements three times a day without affecting the rest of the platform. During a viewing spike, only the video streaming service scales horizontally, while other services maintain their normal capacity.

Related terms

• API Gateway - Single entry point that routes requests to microservices
• Event-Driven Architecture - Asynchronous communication pattern between microservices
• Domain-Driven Design - Design approach that guides microservice boundaries

Last updated: February 2026