Simple Definition for Beginners: Microservices are a software architecture approach where applications are built as a collection of small, independent services that communicate with each other through APIs.
Common Use Example: A company adopts a microservices architecture for its e-commerce platform, with separate services handling product catalog, user authentication, payments, and order processing.
Technical Definition for Professionals: Microservices refer to a software development paradigm where applications are decomposed into small, loosely coupled services, each responsible for a specific business function. These services are independently deployable, scalable, and communicate with each other through lightweight protocols such as HTTP/REST or messaging queues.
Microservices architecture promotes modularity, flexibility, and agility in software development by allowing teams to work on and deploy services independently, enabling faster development cycles and easier maintenance. Each microservice can be developed, tested, and scaled independently, leading to improved fault isolation and resilience. However, managing microservices requires robust API management, service discovery, monitoring, and orchestration tools.