Micro Frontends with Module Federation: Why and How?

Stop building complex meta-frameworks. Webpack's Module Federation lets you dynamically load remote applications at runtime with simple configuration.

#1about 3 minutes

Software architecture is about evaluating consequences

Software architecture is not about finding the single best solution, but about evaluating the consequences of different approaches for your specific situation.

#2about 1 minute

Understanding the micro frontend architectural style

Micro frontends break down a large application into smaller, independently developed and deployed parts that are integrated into a common shell at runtime.

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Exploring real-world use cases for micro frontends

Case studies from healthcare, payroll, and banking illustrate how large organizations use micro frontends to manage complexity across different business domains.

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The primary reasons for adopting micro frontends

The main drivers for adopting micro frontends are scaling development across multiple teams, enabling long-term technology evolution, and quickly adapting to changing requirements.

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Common challenges and implementation drawbacks

Implementing micro frontends introduces challenges such as the effort to build an orchestration layer, difficulties in sharing code at runtime, and maintaining a consistent user experience.

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How Module Federation enables runtime integration

Module Federation, a Webpack 5 feature, allows a host application to dynamically load code from a separately compiled remote application, solving a key challenge for micro frontends.

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Sharing libraries and handling version conflicts

Module Federation simplifies sharing common libraries like Angular or React to reduce bundle sizes and includes built-in strategies to manage potential version mismatches between micro frontends.

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Live demo: Initial setup with an Angular plugin

A live demonstration shows how to use an Angular CLI plugin to quickly add the necessary builders and initial Webpack configuration for Module Federation to a project.

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Live demo: Configuring the host and remote

The Webpack configuration is adjusted to expose a module from the remote micro frontend and define the remote's URL in the host shell application for lazy loading.

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Implementing dynamic federation at runtime

The implementation is refactored from static federation to dynamic federation, allowing the application to determine which micro frontends to load at runtime from a backend configuration.

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Combining Module Federation with Web Components

Using Web Components with Module Federation allows for mixing different frameworks and versions in one application, but requires careful handling to avoid conflicts.

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Conclusion and key takeaways on micro frontends

Micro frontends are primarily a solution for scaling teams and domains, and while they introduce runtime dependencies, Module Federation provides a straightforward implementation path.