What are Microservices? - Definition & Meaning

Definition

Microservices is an architecture pattern where an application is built from small, independent services that each fulfill a specific business function. Each microservice runs as an independent process, communicates via APIs, and can be independently developed, deployed, and scaled.

Technical explanation

In a microservices architecture, each service is responsible for one bounded context following Domain-Driven Design principles. Services communicate via synchronous protocols (REST, gRPC) or asynchronous messaging (RabbitMQ, Apache Kafka, NATS). Each has its own database (database-per-service pattern) to ensure loose coupling. API Gateways serve as a central entry point and handle cross-cutting concerns such as authentication, rate limiting, and request routing. Service discovery mechanisms (Consul, Kubernetes DNS) allow services to find each other automatically. The Circuit Breaker pattern prevents cascade failures when a service goes down. Distributed tracing (Jaeger, OpenTelemetry) enables debugging across multiple services. Saga patterns coordinate distributed transactions spanning multiple services. Event sourcing and CQRS (Command Query Responsibility Segregation) are popular patterns for complex domains. Containerization with Docker and orchestration with Kubernetes are the standard deployment strategy for microservices.

How MG Software applies this

MG Software applies microservices selectively for projects that genuinely benefit from them. For large SaaS platforms with multiple teams and high scalability requirements, we design microservice architectures with Docker and Kubernetes. Each service has its own CI/CD pipeline and can be deployed independently. For smaller projects, we deliberately choose a modular monolith that can evolve into microservices when scale demands it.

Practical examples

• A food delivery platform where separate microservices handle user management, restaurant catalog, orders, payments, and delivery logistics, allowing each team to develop and deploy independently.
• A streaming service running its recommendation engine as a separate microservice, enabling it to scale with machine learning models without impacting the video player or user interface.
• A banking application keeping its payment service separate from the notification system, ensuring a spike in push notifications does not slow down transaction processing.

Related terms