4 advantages of application development with microservices

Over the last few years, the way in which applications are developed has changed dramatically. The fast and ongoing tecnological evolution, together with the changing user needs, has resulted in a more complex and difficult  structure and programming of software government.

Until not so long ago, software architecture was predominantly monolithic, operating with a single code and relying on a single technology stack, making any change or failure in any of the software’s functionalities affect the whole.

Thus, microservices were born, a structure based on different internal components that act as services with independent functions, but which communicate with each other through a defined and always accessible API.

This structure is what has enabled the development of new technologies such as ‘superapps’ or multicloud environments, which are becoming increasingly widespread among companies, partly thanks to their economic advantages. In fact, according to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the global market for microservices in the cloud will reach 2.7 billion dollars by 2026 and, according to IBM data, in 2021 81.5% of companies were already using this type of architecture, and 17.5% planned to do so in the future.

Our expert analysis

In this context, atSistemas, a 100% Spanish special services technology consultancy, highlights some of the advantages of microservices architecture, a fundamental pillar of the infrastructure of new technologies.

Increasing software resilience

The main advantage of microservices and the key to their functionality lies in the independence of the modules, which provides resilience to the entire application. In other words, should any failure occur in any of the software modules, or should any maintenance be required, the rest of the application’s components are not affected, so that its functional aspects can continue as normal. Therefore, the risk of data loss is eliminated.

One example of this is Netflix, which in 2008, after an error in its monolithic database interrupted its service for several days, decided to migrate to microservices, with the aim of making changes and fixes faster and more agile until it became what it is today.

Autonomy in the choice of technological tools

One of the characteristics of the monolithic type structure is that all team members working on the development of the application depend on a specific technological framework. Microservices, on the other hand, allow each team to work with its own tool without affecting the functioning of the application.

This, in turn, means that the integration and compatibility of other technologies can be tested, facilitates implementation and, in case of errors, makes it easier to revert to an earlier version and correct mistakes.

Easier and more flexible scaling

By having the possibility of modifying each microservice independently, the agility in development is much greater. Thus, the introduction of improvements, features or integration of other components to the application is much simpler and more flexible. Likewise, the use and consumption of resources is more efficient and sustained, due to the fact that the development is much more specific and tailored to each need.

Agility in development

Microservices architecture allows development teams be smaller and more dedicated, as they are specialised by modules. This makes the work chain faster, more agile and more productive, thus shortening development, deployment and bug-fixing time.

Ultimately, the benefit is the ability to meet customer needs more efficiently, which ultimately results in increased performance for the company itself. In fact, according to Solo.io, most companies with at least half of their applications based on microservices have daily or at least more frequent release cycles.

“There is no doubt that technology and software exist to make our lives easier, as they are born to solve specific problems. But everything evolves and there are many new applications, which address or solve situations that did not even exist a few years ago, and which are bigger, more complex or more specific. Thanks to microservices, we can optimise technology more than ever, adapt it much more specifically to the real problems of our customers and, at the same time, improve development processes, both in terms of efficiency and effectiveness“, says Ignacio Montero Jiménez, Head of the Architecture and Development Business Line at atSistemas.