Definition
Plain language
A way of building software as many small separate programs that each do one job and talk to each other, instead of one big program.
As stated in the literature
An architectural style decomposing an application into small, independently deployable services that communicate over defined interfaces; models fabricating fake outages often invoke plausible-sounding microservice failures.
Also called: microservices
Why it matters: It lets teams build and update parts of a system independently, so one piece can be fixed or scaled without rebuilding the whole application.
For example, an online store might run one small service just for logins, another just for the shopping cart, and another just for payments, each able to be updated on its own.
Heard on the show
“It conjures a two-part microservice architecture out of nothing.”Episode 149 — When Cornering a Chatbot Makes It Lie: J.P. Morgan's Case for 'Playing Dead'