An Analysis of Frameworks for Microservices

Abstract

Microservices is a modern architectural style in which developers decomposes a software system into many services loose coupled with small responsibilities. Given its inherent complexity, many frameworks have been proposed in order to support developers in microservices. However, due to its particularities, the whole process of choosing the most appropriate framework for developers' needs is a time-consuming and challenging task. In this paper, we present a qualitative study that compares both KumuluzEE and Spring Cloud & NetFlix OSS frameworks through functional and non-functional requirements. We tested each framework by developing a hypothetical scenario with each of them. Our results show that although the KumuluzEE supports few characteristics of the microservices architecture, it is easier to use, especially, for newcomers. Instead, the Spring Cloud & NetFlix OSS is suitable for large-scale systems and experienced development teams, and it holds a higher number of the architecture characteristics. However, learnability for newcomers is low even though the framework provides a substantial documentation.