Challenges

Frontend integration means that the frontend is composed of different systems. This causes some challenges.

UI infrastructure #

For UI integration to work, some infrastructure has to be provided. That might be common CSS or JavaScript code, but it can also include server infrastructure for server-side transclusion.

There could be a need for UI parts that do not belong to any specific microservices – for example, the home page or a navigation bar. These have to be developed and maintained.

It is important to not put too much into the UI infrastructure. If the microservice relies too much on the generic UI infrastructure, it will depend heavily on it and that contradicts the goal of independent development.

UI integration leads to a certain degree of dependencies on the code level, which leads to tight coupling; therefore, the dependencies should be limited.

For example, it makes little sense to provide all the styling, UI frameworks, and UI code for all microservices in one single component.

This would be a problem in particular for migration to new technology stacks. The stack is the same for all microservices, and it is, therefore, hard to migrate stepwise to a new stack.