Microservices are extremely popular these days, and for good reason. They provide a blueprint that makes it easier for developers to repeatedly create robust and scalable applications. While there is no official industry-adopted definition of microservices, there are some generally accepted attributes that make up a microservice:

• Small and single in purpose
• Communicate via technology agnostic protocols
• Support continuous integration
• Independently deployable.

Many of these attributes are interrelated – since services are to be small and single in purpose, they must communicate with each other to provide real business value, and to be independently deployable they need to be small and single in purpose. While each of these are vital attributes, the ability to communicate without being tightly coupled to one another is a critical aspect of microservices architecture.

Smart Endpoints and Dumb Pipes

Well-known author and developer Martin Fowler advocates what he calls “smart endpoints and dumb pipes” for microservices communication.… Read the rest