Microfrontend architecture: Advantages and disadvantages

Microfrontend architecture is a software development approach that breaks down a web application’s front end into smaller, independent pieces. These pieces, called microfrontends, are developed, tested, and deployed autonomously. They can be implemented using different frameworks and technologies, and they communicate with each other through well-defined APIs.

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Advantages of microfrontends

Microfrontend architecture offers several advantages over traditional monolithic front ends, including:

• Scalability: Microfrontends can be scaled independently, which makes it easier to handle increased traffic and add new features.
• Agility: Microfrontends can be developed and deployed independently, which allows teams to work more quickly and iteratively.
• Resilience: If one microfrontend fails, the others can continue to operate. This makes the application more resilient to errors and outages.
• Technology choice: Microfrontends can be implemented using different frameworks and technologies, which gives teams more flexibility and choice.
• Team autonomy: Microfrontends can be developed by independent teams, which can improve collaboration and morale.

Disadvantages of microfrontends

Microfrontend architecture also has some disadvantages, including:

• Complexity: Microfrontend architectures can be more complex to design and implement than monolithic front ends.
• Performance overhead: There can be a performance overhead associated with inter-microfrontend communication.
• Coordination overhead: It can be challenging to coordinate the development and deployment of multiple microfrontends.
• Testing overhead: It can be more difficult to test microfrontend architectures than monolithic front ends.

Example of a microfrontend architecture

The following diagram shows a simple example of a microfrontend architecture:

In this example, the application is divided into three microfrontends: a header microfrontend, a product listing microfrontend, and a shopping cart microfrontend. Each microfrontend is a self-contained React application.

The microfrontends communicate with each other through a shared API. For example, the product listing microfrontend might call the shopping cart microfrontend’s API to add an item to the user’s cart.

Code block example

The following code block shows an example of a microfrontend in React:

// ProductListingMicrofrontend.js
import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
import { useShoppingCartAPI } from '@my-app/shopping-cart-api';
const ProductListingMicrofrontend = () => {
  const [products, setProducts] = useState([]);
  const shoppingCartAPI = useShoppingCartAPI();
  useEffect(() => {
    fetch('/products')
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(products => setProducts(products));
  }, []);
  const addToCart = (product) => {
    shoppingCartAPI.addItemToCart(product);
  };
  return (
    <ul>
      {products.map(product => (
        <li key={product.id}>
          {product.name}
          <button onClick={() => addToCart(product)}>Add to cart</button>
        </li>
      ))}
    </ul>
  );
};
export default ProductListingMicrofrontend;

This microfrontend uses the useShoppingCartAPI hook to access the shopping cart microfrontend's API. It also uses the useState and useEffect hooks to manage the state of the product list.

Conclusion

Microfrontend architecture is a powerful approach for building scalable and resilient web applications. However, it is important to be aware of the challenges involved before adopting this approach.

If you are considering using microfrontends in your next project, be sure to carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages. You should also consider the complexity of your application and the skills and experience of your team.