Micro Frontend​: What It Is and How It Works

In software development, there is a common tendency to strive for simplicity and optimization. Front-end development is no exception. Micro frontends are becoming popular as they offer scalability, modularity, and quick updates of web applications. Read on to learn about the definition, key concepts, advantages, and disadvantages of the micro-frontend approach.

What Is a Micro Frontend​?

Micro frontends represent a modern architectural approach in web development, extending the principles of back-end microservices to the app’s client side.

As web applications are getting more complex to include a variety of features and meet different user needs, sticking to a single codebase just isn’t practical anymore. It’s becoming clear that we need to move away from traditional monolithic architectures and embrace more flexible solutions. Micro frontends help organizations tackle this complexity by distributing responsibilities across multiple teams, each concentrating on specific functionalities.

In other words, the user interface of a web application is divided into smaller, loosely coupled components. Each component corresponds to a particular feature or functionality and is developed, tested, and deployed independently by different teams, often using different technologies.

Consequently, each micro frontend can be scaled according to user demand or specific feature requirements, while the entire system functions uninterruptedly. This results in more efficient resource utilization, quicker releases, and easier maintenance of the overall application.

In the picture above, you can see that a micro frontend is a component of the app’s client side. It is managed by a separate team, built with distinct technology, and is responsible for specific functions.

How a Micro Frontend Works

We’ve already discussed that each micro frontend is a self-contained piece of the application, developed using its own technology stack. So, what is a micro-frontend architecture​? Simply put, a web application with a micro-frontend architecture has the frontend divided into several manageable parts, such as a user profile, a shopping cart, and a payment module. Let’s see how it functions.

The main application, often called the container or shell, acts as the host for these micro frontends. It coordinates the different components, making sure they work together smoothly. The container handles routing and loads the right micro frontends dynamically depending on what the user is doing. For instance, when a user visits the website and navigates to the profile section, the container will load the user profile micro frontend. 

Micro frontends communicate with back-end services through APIs to retrieve or send data. Each component typically interacts with its own set of microservices, which handle specific functionalities, business logic, and data storage. Due to this separation, more flexible development and scaling have become possible.

Benefits of Micro Frontends

Take a look at the list of common advantages your business can gain from this development approach.

Independent development and deployment

Since each micro frontend can be built using different technologies or frameworks, teams can choose the best tools for their specific tasks. This way, they can update their micro frontends as technology evolves without overhauling the entire application. Additionally, because changes to one part don’t impact others, developers can deploy updates more frequently and with greater confidence.

Improved scalability

When an app is split into different sections, each part can be scaled separately according to demand. This means you can modify only the areas that need it, optimizing resource allocation and improving performance during high-traffic scenarios.

Technology agnosticism

Each micro frontend can use its own technology stack, so teams aren’t tied to a single framework or tool. This means they are free to choose the best options for their tasks and easily adopt new technologies.

Faster time to market

As several groups of developers can work simultaneously on different parts of the app, they deliver new features or updates much quicker, which helps keep project timelines on track and makes it easier to respond to changes in the market.

Easier maintenance and updates

The maintenance process is much easier when each part of the app is self-contained. Specialists make separate updates or fixes while keeping the whole system up and running.

Enhanced team autonomy

Teams working on different micro frontends have more independence, meaning they can make decisions and progress without being tied to other teams. This fosters faster development and reduces delays.

Key Concepts of Micro Frontends

Understanding the basic principles of this development approach is essential for maximizing its value.

Decomposition by business domain

In this approach, the application is not a monolithic structure. Instead, it is divided into separate parts for different business areas or functions, such as user management, product listings, or checkout. 

For instance, in an ecommerce website, one micro frontend might handle the shopping cart, while another manages user profiles. So, each team focuses on their respective parts and is not involved in other teams’ work.

Independent deployment and releases

With micro frontends, each part is developed and deployed on its own schedule. Teams don’t have to wait for the entire application to be ready to release updates. 

For example, if you want to roll out a new feature in the payment section, you can do so independently while other teams work on their own updates.

Technology independence and flexibility

If a team is more comfortable with a certain framework or wants to experiment with new technologies, they can choose what works best in their circumstances. For instance, one team may use React for their component, while another opts for Vue.js.

API-driven communication and integration

Communication between micro frontends is typically handled through APIs, making different parts of the application interact smoothly while not being tightly coupled. 

For example, when a user adds an item to their cart in the shopping cart micro frontend, that action triggers an API call to update inventory levels in the product listing micro frontend. This keeps everything coordinated and doesn’t oblige each team to understand the inner workings of other parts of the application.

Micro Frontend Example​s

Micro frontends can be effectively utilized in various applications to enhance modularity and scalability, as illustrated by the following examples.

Ecommerce platforms with modular product pages

Ecommerce platforms turn to micro frontends to create modular product pages. Different sections of a product page, such as product descriptions, reviews, and pricing, are built and managed as separate parts. 

Amazon uses a modular architecture where various teams separately handle product information, reviews, and recommendations. 

Zalando, a leading European online fashion platform, employs a micro-frontend architecture to efficiently manage its extensive product catalog and user interface.

By breaking down the frontend into manageable components, IKEA deploys updates more efficiently and maintains a seamless customer journey across its digital platform.

Online marketplaces with independent vendor dashboards

The key principle of online marketplaces is to provide different vendors with necessary tools to manage their products and sales without affecting each other. Micro frontends enable such platforms to offer different dashboards for vendors, each displaying sales data, inventory management, and order processing.

Etsy, a global online marketplace focused on handmade items, has adopted microservices (and by extension, micro frontends) to improve its vendor management systems. As a result, sellers operate autonomously while contributing to the marketplace’s overall functionality.

Banking applications with separate feature modules

Modern banking apps offer a variety of features, like account management, transfers, loan applications, and investment tracking. Each of these features can be a separate micro frontend, so that banks can easily innovate and release new functionality, maintaining core services uninterrupted.

Revolut uses a modular approach to its app, with separate teams managing features like crypto trading, currency conversion, and payment services.

Capital One utilizes a microservices approach that includes micro frontends for various banking features. 

Media streaming services with personalized content sections

Streaming platforms often have sections like recommended content, trending shows, and user-specific watchlists, all powered by separate micro frontends. This makes rapid updates and content personalization possible.

Netflix implements micro frontends for personalized sections like recommendations, “Continue Watching,” and various content categories. Due to such modularity, this video provider can offer a seamless user experience and instantly update different parts of the interface.

DAZN, a subscription-based video streaming service, employs micro frontends to streamline its user interface. Each team focuses on distinct business domains, such as TV or mobile applications, working autonomously on their respective features.

Micro Frontend Frameworks

• React — a popular JavaScript library used for building user interfaces, particularly single-page applications. Its component-based architecture makes it well-suited for micro frontend development, where each micro frontend can be a self-contained React component or app. React’s virtual DOM efficiently manages UI updates, and its extensive ecosystem (like React Router and Redux) provides tools for state management and routing across micro frontends. Since React is lightweight, it is a good choice for modular, scalable frontend architectures.
• Angular — a comprehensive front-end framework maintained by Google that uses TypeScript. It offers a robust set of tools for building large-scale applications, making it suitable for enterprise-level micro frontends. Angular provides features like dependency injection, two-way data binding, and powerful routing options out of the box, so you can easily build complex applications with multiple separately deployable modules. Angular’s strong, opinionated structure enforces consistency across teams, which can be beneficial in a micro-frontend setup.
• Next.js — a React-based framework known for server-side rendering (SSR) and static site generation (SSG). It supports automatic code splitting, providing faster load times by serving only the necessary parts of the application. Next.js also includes an API routing feature, which supports seamless integration with back-end services. For micro frontends, Next.js excels at managing isolated frontends with shared data and ensures optimal performance through SSR and SSG.
• Vue.js — a progressive JavaScript framework designed to be incrementally adoptable. It’s lightweight and easy to integrate into existing projects or architectures, providing reactive data binding and a component-based architecture similar to React. Vue also supports tools like Vue Router and Vuex for state management, which helps maintain consistency in large applications. Vue’s simplicity and ease of integration make it an excellent option for creating micro frontends with minimal overhead.
• Svelte — a compiler-based framework that differs from traditional front-end frameworks like React and Vue by compiling components into highly efficient vanilla JavaScript during build time. This approach eliminates the need for a runtime, resulting in smaller bundles and faster performance. Svelte’s minimalistic architecture makes it well-suited for micro frontends where performance and efficiency are key. Its reactivity is built into the language, simplifying the creation of separate components.

Micro Frontend Implementation​

Micro Frontend Disadvantages​

Despite all the advantages of micro frontends, it’s important to carefully weigh the following disadvantages in your development strategy.

Increased complexity

Micro frontends increase the complexity of your architecture. Instead of a single application, you now have multiple independent pieces that need to work together. In practice, it can be a tough task to manage different parts of the frontend, ensuring they communicate properly and maintaining a consistent user experience. You’ll need a team of true experts. 

Higher maintenance effort

While micro frontends allow for independent updates, they also require more ongoing maintenance. Each micro frontend might have its own codebase, dependencies, and deployment processes, leading to a greater overall effort in keeping everything up to date and functioning smoothly.

Potential performance issues

With multiple front-end parts loading independently, there’s a risk of performance bottlenecks. If not managed well, this can lead to slower load times or increased resource usage, as each micro frontend may include its own libraries and dependencies rather than sharing them.

Coordination between teams

Effective collaboration is crucial when working with micro frontends. Teams need to coordinate their efforts to guarantee that their individual components integrate well and maintain a cohesive user experience. This can sometimes lead to communication challenges, especially if teams are using different technologies or working at different paces.

How Can SaM Solutions Help You?

SaM Solutions has a team of skilled front-end experts ready to help you build modern, scalable applications using tech like Angular and React. Our developers specialize in creating user-friendly interfaces that fit your business needs perfectly. Whether you want to start a new project or upgrade an existing app, we’re committed to delivering top-notch development and smooth user experiences, all backed by our strong grasp of micro-frontend architecture and the latest technologies.

Conclusion

Micro frontends provide a robust solution for modern web development challenges by promoting scalability, modularity, and rapid deployment. As organizations continue to face the demands of complex applications and faster release cycles, embracing this architectural pattern will likely become increasingly prevalent.