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Micro-Frontend

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By Beerendra M C
15 min read
Micro-Frontend

Introduction

Welcome to the micro-frontend documentation! As we all know, the world of front-end development is constantly evolving and changing, and Micro-frontend is a relatively new approach that has gained a lot of attention in recent years. This documentation aims to provide a comprehensive overview of Micro-frontend, including its advantages and disadvantages, architecture, implementation, best practices, use cases, challenges, and future trends.

In this guide, we’ll cover the following topics:

Let’s get started!

Overview

What is Micro-frontend?

Micro-frontend is an architecture pattern for building web applications that involves breaking down the user interface of a large application into smaller, independent parts or modules. Each module is developed and deployed independently, using different technologies, and can be developed by different teams.

These modules are also known as micro frontends, and they can be developed using different frameworks such as React, Angular, Vue, or even VanillaJS. Each micro frontend can represent a specific feature or functionality of the application, and they can be composed to create the overall user interface of the application.

Why Use Micro-frontend?

Micro-frontend has gained popularity in recent years as a way to address some of the challenges of traditional monolithic front-end architectures, such as tight coupling between components, difficulty in scaling, and slow development cycles. By breaking down the UI into smaller, more manageable parts, micro-frontend allows teams to work more efficiently and effectively, and build more scalable and resilient web applications.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Micro-frontend

Advantages of micro-frontend include:

  • Increased flexibility and scalability
  • More efficient development cycles
  • Easier maintenance and updates
  • Greater autonomy for teams

Disadvantages of micro-frontend include:

  • Increased complexity and coordination between modules
  • Potential performance issues if not implemented properly
  • Dependency management challenges
  • Styling issues caused by mfe styles getting overridden by host styles and vice versa

Overall, micro-frontend is a powerful approach to front-end development that can help teams work more efficiently and effectively. However, it also comes with its own set of challenges and requires careful consideration and planning to implement successfully.

Architecture

Micro-frontend architecture is a modular approach to front-end development that breaks down a web application into smaller, independent parts. Here are some of the popular approaches to implementing micro-frontend architecture:

Module Federation

Module Federation makes sharing code and dependencies between different code bases easier. This architecture loads the code dynamically at runtime to reduce the frequency of code duplication. Module federation works by allowing one application to expose certain modules or components as “remotes”, which can be consumed by other applications as if they were part of their own codebase. This enables different micro frontends to share functionality and resources, such as stylesheets, templates, and scripts, without having to copy and paste code between them.

Advantages

  • Increased Scalability: With Module Federation, it is easier to scale front-end development across multiple teams, as they can work independently and share modules with each other as needed.
  • Improved Reusability: Module Federation promotes code reuse across different applications, reducing code duplication and making it easier to maintain and update front-end modules.
  • Enhanced Flexibility: Module Federation provides the ability to create a modular architecture that can be composed into different applications, making it easier to adapt to changing business needs and requirements.
  • Improved Performance: By dynamically loading only the necessary modules, Module Federation can help improve the performance of a front-end application.

Disadvantages:

  • Increased Complexity: Implementing Module Federation can add complexity to the front-end development process, as teams need to coordinate and manage the shared modules.
  • Framework Dependent: When using module federation with Angular, React, or Vue JS frameworks, it’s important to note that each module must be built using the same framework. This is because module federation relies on the ability to share code and components between different modules, and the code and components must be written in a way that is compatible with the chosen framework. This can be a limitation for teams that are using different frameworks within the same application.
  • Requires the same version of dependencies across all MFEs: One of the main disadvantages of module federation is that it requires the same version of dependencies across all micro frontends. This can be limiting, as it may be difficult to ensure that all micro frontends are using the same version of a particular dependency, especially if they are developed by different teams or maintained by different organizations.

Single-spa

Single-spa is a popular framework for implementing micro-frontends that enables developers to build front-end applications using a collection of small, self-contained applications or “micro-frontends.” Each micro-frontend is developed, tested, and deployed independently and can be integrated into a larger application using the Single-spa framework. Single-spa makes it easy to combine micro-frontends developed with different frameworks or technologies into a single application.

Advantages

  • Increased Flexibility: Single-spa allows you to build independent micro-frontends using different frameworks and technologies, making it easier to adapt to different business requirements and changing needs.
  • Improved Reusability: Single-spa promotes code reuse and modularity across different micro-frontends, reducing code duplication and making it easier to maintain and update front-end modules.
  • Improved Performance: Single-spa allows for lazy loading of micro-frontends, improving the performance of the overall application by reducing the initial load time.
  • Framework Agnostic: Single-spa allows us to club multiple micro-frontends built using different frameworks like Angular, React and Vue JS into a single page.

Disadvantages:

  • Increased Complexity: Single SPA introduces a lot of complexity to your application, as it requires you to manage the lifecycle of multiple micro frontends and handle communication between them. This can be difficult to debug and maintain, especially for large and complex applications.
  • Potential Performance Overhead: While lazy loading can improve application performance, it may also introduce additional overhead as it needs to load and unload multiple micro frontends dynamically. This can lead to longer load times and a less smooth user experience.
  • Limited Customizability: Single SPA has a set of conventions that you must follow to create your micro frontends. This can be limiting in cases where you need to customize the library to fit your needs.
  • Framework Dependency: Depending on a framework has its own disadvantages. It will require changes to the code and consistent updates to the framework. As usual, when the framework is old or deprecated, you will need to re-factor and re-build the entire site to follow the latest technology.
  • Increased Learning Curve: Single-spa requires learning a new framework and development paradigm, which can be a barrier to entry for developers who are not familiar with it.

Web Components

Web Components is a set of standards for building reusable UI components that can be shared and used across different web applications. Web Components are designed to work with any front-end framework and can be implemented using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. They offer a way to encapsulate functionality and style within a single component, making it easier to maintain and update.

Advantages

  • Increased Flexibility: Web Components are framework-agnostic, meaning they can be used with any front-end framework or technology, making it easier to adapt to different business requirements and changing needs.
  • Improved Reusability: Web Components promote code reuse and modularity across different micro-frontends, reducing code duplication and making it easier to maintain and update front-end modules.
  • Framework Interoperability: Web components created in different frameworks like Angular, React and Vue Js can be integrated into a single host as they are designed to be interoperable and reusable across different frameworks and platforms.
  • Ease of Testing: Web Components provide a standardized testing interface, making it easier to test individual micro-frontends and the overall application.

Disadvantages:

  • Potential Performance Overhead: While Web Components are optimized for performance, they may introduce additional overhead as all MFEs need to load and manage all the required modules independently.
  • Increased Learning Curve: Web Components require learning a new development paradigm, which can be a barrier to entry for developers who are not familiar with it.
  • Potential routing problem: Web components are designed to be self-contained and independent of the surrounding application. This can make it challenging to implement routing between different web components in a way that is intuitive and seamless for the user.

iFrame

iFrame is an HTML tag that allows developers to embed an HTML document within another HTML document. In the context of micro-frontends, iFrame can be used to embed different micro-frontends within a single page. Each micro-frontend can be developed, tested, and deployed independently and can communicate with the container application using cross-document messaging.

Overall, the choice of micro-frontend architecture will depend on the specific needs and requirements of the project. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages, and developers should carefully evaluate each one to determine the best fit for their application.

Advantages

  • Increased Isolation: iFrames provide a high degree of isolation between different micro-frontends, reducing the risk of conflicts between different modules.
  • Improved Security: iFrames provide a sandboxed environment for executing micro-frontends, reducing the risk of security vulnerabilities and attacks.
  • Browser Compatibility: iFrames are supported by all modern browsers, ensuring maximum compatibility for the resulting application.
  • Independent Development: iFrames allow for independent development of different micro-frontends, reducing the need for tightly coupled dependencies and simplifying the front-end development process.

Disadvantages

  • Performance Overhead: iFrames can introduce additional performance overhead due to the need to load and manage different frames, potentially slowing down the overall application.
  • Confusing user experience: When an iFrame is embedded in a page and the content inside the iFrame is longer than the height of the iFrame, a scrollbar may appear inside the iFrame itself, but also outside of the iFrame, on the parent page. This can lead to a confusing user experience, as users may not be sure which scrollbar to use to scroll through the content. Fixing this may not be straightforward, and may introduce additional complexity to the front-end development process.
  • Limited Communication: Communication between different micro-frontends in iFrames can be challenging and requires careful coordination and management.
  • Limited Customizability: iFrames provide a limited degree of customizability and may not be suitable for complex or highly customized applications.

Implementing micro frontends

Implementing Micro-frontends typically involves breaking down the user interface of a web application into smaller, self-contained modules that can be developed, deployed, and maintained independently. The following is a high-level overview of the key steps involved in implementing Micro-frontends:

Building Modules:

The first step in implementing Micro-frontends is to break down the user interface of the application into smaller, self-contained modules. Each module should be designed to perform a specific function or task within the overall user interface. The modules can be built using a variety of front-end technologies, including React, Vue, Angular, or plain HTML/CSS/JavaScript.

Deploying Modules:

Once the modules have been built, they need to be deployed to a production environment where they can be accessed by the parent application. Depending on the architecture being used, the modules may be deployed to separate servers, containers, or even separate domains.

Integrating Modules:

After the modules have been deployed, the parent application needs to be configured to integrate them into the overall user interface. This may involve updating the routing logic, configuring the composition layer, or making changes to the server-side code.

Communicating Between Modules:

Finally, the modules need to be able to communicate with each other in order to share data and coordinate their behavior. This can be achieved using a variety of communication patterns, including custom events, message passing, shared state, or APIs.

Overall, implementing Micro-frontends requires careful planning and coordination between the various teams responsible for building, deploying, and integrating the modules. However, the benefits of Micro-frontends, such as increased agility, flexibility, and scalability, make it an attractive option for organizations that need to rapidly develop and deploy complex web applications.

Use Cases and Examples

Here are some examples of how micro-frontend architecture can be used in different industries:

E-commerce:

E-commerce companies can use micro-frontend architecture to build modular and scalable applications that can handle high traffic volumes. For example, a company like Amazon can use micro-frontends to create separate modules for the shopping cart, product search, and product recommendations. This allows for faster development and deployment of features, as well as improved performance and flexibility.

Banking and Financial Services:

In the banking and financial services industry, micro-frontend architecture can be used to create secure and scalable applications that can handle complex financial transactions. For example, a bank can use micro-frontends to create separate modules for account information, transaction history, and loan applications. This allows for easier maintenance and updating of the various modules, as well as improved security and compliance.

Social Media:

Social media platforms can use micro-frontend architecture to build modular and scalable applications that can handle high traffic volumes and complex user interactions. For example, a company like Facebook can use micro-frontends to create separate modules for news feeds, chat functionality, and user profiles. This allows for faster development and deployment of features, as well as improved performance and flexibility.

Travel and Hospitality:

In the travel and hospitality industry, micro-frontend architecture can be used to create scalable and flexible applications that can handle a variety of user interactions. For example, a hotel booking platform can use micro-frontends to create separate modules for hotel search, booking, and payment. This allows for easier maintenance and updating of the various modules, as well as improved performance and user experience.

Challenges and Considerations

Micro-frontend architecture can offer many benefits, such as faster development, improved performance, and greater flexibility. However, it also comes with some challenges and considerations that must be addressed to ensure the success of the project. Here are some key challenges and considerations to keep in mind:

Versioning and Dependency Management:

Managing versions and dependencies of multiple front-end modules can be challenging, especially as the number of modules and team size increases. Teams must establish clear versioning and dependency management processes to ensure that changes to one module do not break the functionality of other modules.

Scalability:

As the number of front-end modules increases, the scalability of the overall system must be carefully considered. Teams must ensure that the architecture is designed to scale and that the necessary infrastructure is in place to handle increased traffic and usage.

User Experience and Navigation:

Creating a seamless user experience and navigation can be challenging when using micro-frontend architecture. Teams must carefully plan the user interface and navigation flow to ensure that users can easily navigate between different modules and that the overall user experience is consistent and intuitive.

Team Collaboration and Communication:

Micro-frontend architecture requires close collaboration and communication between different teams, including front-end developers, back-end developers, designers, and QA testers. Teams must establish clear communication channels and collaboration processes to ensure that everyone is aligned on project goals.

Overall, while micro-frontend architecture can offer many benefits, it also requires careful planning, coordination, and ongoing maintenance to ensure success. By addressing these challenges and considerations, teams can build scalable and flexible web applications that can handle complex user interactions and traffic volumes.

Conclusion and Future

Here are some key takeaways from our discussion of micro-frontend:

Summary of Key Takeaways:

  • Micro-frontend architecture involves breaking down front-end applications into smaller, modular components.
  • This allows for easier maintenance, updating, and scaling of web applications.
  • Micro-frontend architecture can be used in a variety of industries, including e-commerce, banking and finance, social media, and travel and hospitality.
  • There are some challenges and considerations to keep in mind when using micro-frontend architecture, including integration with back-end systems, versioning and dependency management, scalability, user experience and navigation, and team collaboration and communication.

As the demand for more scalable and flexible web applications continues to grow, the future of micro-frontend looks promising. Here are some of the future trends and developments that we can expect to see in micro-frontend:

  • Increased adoption of web components: As web components become more widely adopted, we can expect to see more micro-frontends built using this technology.
  • Continued growth of Module Federation: Module Federation is a relatively new technology that is rapidly gaining popularity. We can expect to see more applications built using this technology in the coming years.
  • Improved developer tooling: As micro-frontend gains popularity, we can expect to see more developer tools and frameworks that make it easier to build, test, and deploy micro-frontends.

Conclusion

In conclusion, micro-frontend is an architectural pattern that offers a more scalable and flexible approach to front-end development. By breaking down a web application’s UI into smaller, independent parts, teams can work more efficiently and effectively, and build more resilient and scalable web applications. While there are some challenges to implementing micro-frontend, such as increased complexity and the need for careful planning, the benefits outweigh the challenges. As the demand for more scalable and flexible web applications continues to grow, we can expect to see the continued growth and adoption of micro-frontend architecture in the years to come.

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