Microservices
Microservices is an architectural style that structures an application as a collection of loosely coupled, independently deployable services, each focused on a specific business capability. These services communicate through lightweight mechanisms like APIs, often over HTTP/REST or messaging protocols, enabling scalability, flexibility, and resilience in software development. It contrasts with monolithic architectures by promoting modularity and decentralized data management.
Developers should learn microservices when building large-scale, complex applications that require high scalability, frequent updates, or team autonomy, such as e-commerce platforms, streaming services, or enterprise systems. It is particularly useful in cloud-native environments where services can be independently scaled and deployed, reducing downtime and improving fault isolation. However, it introduces complexity in areas like inter-service communication and data consistency, so it's best suited for projects where the benefits outweigh these challenges.