Micro Frontends Architecture Explained

<h2>Introduction</h2>
<p>Micro Frontends is an architectural approach where a frontend app is composed of semi-independent “micro-apps,” each owned by different teams. It brings the benefits of microservices to frontend development.</p>

<h3>1. What are Micro Frontends?</h3>
<ul>
  <li>Break a monolithic frontend into smaller, manageable pieces</li>
  <li>Each team can develop, deploy, and maintain their micro-app independently</li>
  <li>Integrate micro-apps at runtime or build-time</li>
</ul>

<h3>2. Benefits of Micro Frontends</h3>
<ul>
  <li>Scalability and modularity</li>
  <li>Independent deployment and release cycles</li>
  <li>Technology agnostic – teams can choose different frameworks</li>
  <li>Improved maintainability for large applications</li>
</ul>

<h3>3. Architecture Patterns</h3>
<ul>
  <li><strong>Vertical Split:</strong> Each micro-frontend owns a vertical feature slice.</li>
  <li><strong>Horizontal Split:</strong> Different teams manage different layers like header, footer, sidebar.</li>
  <li><strong>Integration:</strong> Build-time integration, Server-side composition, or Client-side composition.</li>
</ul>

<h3>4. Example: Using Module Federation in Webpack 5</h3>
<pre><code>// webpack.config.js (host)

plugins: [ new ModuleFederationPlugin({ name: "host", remotes: { nav: "nav@http://localhost:3001/remoteEntry.js", }, }), ];</code></pre> <p>Here, the host app dynamically loads the <code>nav</code> micro-frontend at runtime.</p>

<h3>5. Best Practices</h3>
<ul>
  <li>Define clear contracts between micro-apps</li>
  <li>Share common libraries to reduce bundle size</li>
  <li>Use feature flags for gradual rollouts</li>
  <li>Monitor each micro-frontend independently</li>
</ul>

<h3>6. Use Cases</h3>
<ul>
  <li>Large enterprise applications</li>
  <li>E-commerce platforms with multiple product modules</li>
  <li>Dashboard applications with independently updated widgets</li>
</ul>

<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>Micro Frontends architecture allows teams to scale frontend development independently, reduce coupling, and adopt different technologies per team while delivering a seamless user experience.</p>