The aspect of resilience in microservices-based software design

Abstract

This paper discusses two approaches in microservices-based software design, from the perspective of failure possibility. The first approach accepts the fact that complex distributed software systems with many communicating components, such as microservices-based software, could fail (it is not important when), and is focused on the resilient software design. Resilient software design provides strategies and mechanisms for dealing with failures. While robust system just continues functioning in the presence of a failure, resilient system is prepared to adapt yourself while continuing functioning. Second approach is to try to build ideal software that will never fail. Lot of theory behind behavioral type systems is devoted to this – choreographic programming for example. Choreographic programming relies on choreographies as global descriptions of system implementations – behavior of all entities (e.g. microservices) in a system - are given in a single program. The first approach is in more tight relation with real software systems, while the second one has more theoretic background. In this paper authors discuss on the pros and cons of aforementioned methods and presents the ideas for its fusion (e.g. to use patterns for microservices).