The Difference Between Microservices and Web Services

We go over the important distinctions that dev teams should keep in mind when
deciding to opt for microservices or web services in their app.

There�s plenty of software-speak that goes whooshing over the heads of most people
� and even some of the heads of those programming! Two of the terms that you might
hear thrown about in the world of software are microservices and web services.
These are both ways of defining software products by breaking larger software
products down into manageable chunks that can talk to each other. Let�s take a
closer look.

Microservices Architecture
Microservices architecture involves breaking down a software application into its
smaller components, rather than just having one large software application.
Typically, this involves splitting up a software application into smaller, distinct
business capabilities. These can then talk to each other via an interface.

Let�s take a basic example, for instance, your business is a small retailer.
Instead of going and looking at your shelves all the time to see when you need to
reorder stock, you want to automate it, see what�s been sold and order when stocks
are low. You want to be able to effectively manage and update your product catalog
rather than just knowing off the top of your head. A software product can do all
these things at once - however, breaking it into these three main capabilities
(catalog management, inventory management, and order management) means separation
of both logic and services, and makes more sense.

You can do this just in a regular monolithic software - do separation of components

- however, a microservice architecture takes it further. Each service component is
a piece of software within itself. The inputs and outputs that can flow from the
other services are only defined by an API (Application Programming Interface),
which ensures security and atomicity of each component, while still being able to
talk to its neighbor software components, making it far easier for testing and
reuse if necessary.

Web Services
So, if microservices are like mini-applications that can talk to each other, then
what are web services? Well, they are also mini-applications that can talk to each
other, but over a network, in a defined format. They allow one piece of software to
get input from another piece of software, or provide output, over a network. This
is performed via a defined interface and language, such as XML.

If you�re running on a network where your software components or services won�t be

co-located, or you want the option of running them in separate locations in the
future (e.g. cloud to cloud, server to premises, client to server, server to
server) then you will likely need to use web services in some form.

What�s Best for My Project?

For anything beyond a singular-function software, it�s advisable to choose a
microservices architecture: developers can work on distinct parts, it�s easier to
test, and it generally takes less time to �put together.� Single teams can work on
single distinct business components.

If your software needs to speak to other software over a network, or you�d like the
software itself to �live� in separate places, then you�ll likely need to use web
services to do so.

So, yes, your software can use both microservices and web services at the same time
� in fact, it probably will.
The right architecture for your project, of course, depends on the requirements
themselves. For a small program that exists solely on your phone or laptop and
doesn�t require a network connection for any reason, then you might not use a
microservices architecture, or any web services to get the job done. In this case,
the development is probably pretty straightforward and the software won�t take too
much time to develop (unless the operations are complex or compute-heavy, there�s
in-depth graphics, etc.).

As the saying goes, there are many different ways to skin a cat, and so too is the
case with software development � there�s no �right� way to do something. You could
develop a huge, complex, network-heavy program without using microservices or web
services, but it might be a big mess that takes forever to develop (and never makes
it out of the testing phase).

Choosing the right design architecture for your software, in the beginning, is
critical to seeing it be developed along a healthy time frame, ensuring it�s well-
tested, and that it�s robust enough to ensure a change doesn�t break the whole
thing.