What is microservices architecture?
Microservices architecture splits an application into independently deployable services aligned to business capabilities.
How it works and where it is used
Each service needs clear interfaces and data ownership; splitting files is not enough. Teams can deploy at different speeds and scale parts separately. Network latency, compatibility, distributed transactions and failure modes also grow. A request crossing services needs end-to-end tracing.
Limits, safety and selection criteria
Premature splitting can slow a small team. Identify domain boundaries and operational capacity first. Without independent tests, deployment automation and observability, benefits shrink. Keeping replicated data consistent across services is a core design decision. Imagine separate order, payment and inventory services: completing an order now crosses several network calls. If payment succeeds but inventory reservation fails, a compensating action must be designed. Each service owning its data creates a real boundary; direct access to one shared database weakens it. Teams should version contracts and test backward compatibility. Timeouts, retries and circuit breakers can prevent one failure from taking down everything, but careless retries may create duplicate charges. Trace identifiers help reconstruct a customer request across services.