Demystifying Micro Frontends: A Future-Proof Strategy published 7/30/2023 | 3 min read

Understanding Micro Frontends

Micro frontends represent an architectural style where independently deliverable frontend applications are composed into a whole. Drawing from the proven practices of microservices, the micro frontend approach enables you to break up a monolithic frontend into manageable pieces that can be developed and deployed independently by relatively small, autonomous teams.

  
// Example of a JavaScript micro frontend setup
const teamASquad = 'http://teamA.com/latest';
const teamBSquad = 'http://teamB.com/latest';

fetchComponent(teamASquad).then(displayComponent('team-a'));
fetchComponent(teamBSquad).then(displayComponent('team-b'));

Distributed teams can work on different parts of the application at the same time, making the development process more agile and robust. This enables innovation, as different teams can test new technologies and concepts independently of each other.



Benefits of Micro Frontends

  1. Increased Team Autonomy: Micro frontends enable teams to update their respective parts of the application independently, creating clear boundaries and a higher sense of ownership.
  2. Reduced Cross-team Coordination: As teams primarily focus on a particular part of the application, the need for constant communication among different teams is reduced.
  3. Scalability: The micro frontend architecture enables the application to scale on aspects such as usability, complexity, and scope, allowing teams to scale up or down as needed.
  4. Optimized Performance: Teams can fine-tune their micro frontend to optimize load times and rendering, making the application faster and more efficient.

Drawbacks of Micro Frontends

However, this approach comes with a set of challenges:

  1. Increased Complexity: While breaking down a monolithic frontend into more manageable parts, the architecture of the system may become complex, making it difficult for new players to understand the structure of the application.
  2. Consistency: Maintaining a consistent look and feel across the application can be challenging as different teams work on different parts of the application.
  3. More Coordination: More effort is required to coordinate the development and deployment of each part of the application.
  4. Performance: Micro frontends may sometimes lead to slower page load times or rendering times because of the overhead associated with running multiple applications on the same page.


Navigating Micro Frontends Challenges

  1. Design System: A common design system can help maintain a consistent user interface across the application.
  2. Shared Configurations: Shared linting and formatting configurations can help maintain consistency in the codebase.
  
// Shared ESLint configuration
module.exports = {
    extends: ['@company/eslint-config'],
};
  1. Team Communication: Regular sync-ups between teams may help coordinate and manage the system better.
  2. Optimization: Techniques like lazy loading, code splitting can help to tackle performance issues.

Conclusion

The concept of micro frontends can be a powerful strategy when implemented appropriately. It requires putting well-defined agreements in place that can help manage the complexities it brings along.



Remember the core principle of any choice in software development: the right tool for the right job. While micro frontends have clear advantages in specific use cases, they may not be the best choice for every situation. Every architectural decision will come with trade-offs, and it's crucial to understand these before making an informed decision.



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