The Need for Modular Frontends
While larger back-end systems are split into microservices, client-side applications often remain monolithic. This can lead to issues with debugging, coherence, and maintainability.
Portal-Like Applications: A Solution
Portal-like applications, such as Microsoft Office, offer a user access to a set of unrelated functionality, or modules, that share a common philosophy and may integrate with each other. This approach can be applied to client-side applications.
The Problem with Frontend Monoliths
Frontend monoliths are common in enterprise applications, where the backend architecture is modular, but the frontend is a single codebase. This leads to a bottleneck, as changes in a single backend service require a frontend change, making it difficult to maintain and update.
A Modular Frontend Architecture
Ideally, the frontend should follow a similar approach to the backend, splitting services by responsibility and user functionality. This can be achieved by creating frontend modules that depend on backend services and are consumed by a frontend core at runtime.
Benefits of Modular Frontends
Modular frontends offer several benefits, including:
- Easier maintenance and updates
- Improved scalability
- Enhanced flexibility
- Reduced dependencies
Implementing Modular Frontends
To implement modular frontends, you need:
- A specification for frontend modules
- A backend service to allow downloading available modules
- A frontend application capable of downloading and using modules at runtime
- A frontend API for modules to display their data
Reference Implementation
A reference implementation using React and TypeScript is provided, demonstrating how to create a modular frontend with feature flags and a plugin system.
Piral: An Open-Source Solution
Piral is an open-source solution that provides a modular frontend framework, allowing you to create a customizable and scalable frontend application.
Conclusion
Modularizing client-side applications is essential for maintaining a changing backend and distributing knowledge efficiently. By adopting a modular frontend architecture, you can improve maintainability, scalability, and flexibility.