Difference Between Microservices and Web Services

Microservices is software architecture. From multiple small components, it builds a large complex application and each small component performs a single function. For example, it can do authentication, notification, or any payment processing.  

It has a very specific way in which its software is designed. The idea behind the application is that these are easier to build and maintain when they are separated into small components. And each component in a Microservice has its own CPU, which makes Microservice distinct, which means each one runs its own unique process.

Microservice Architecture:

A Microservice architecture consists of a collection of small, autonomous services. Each Microservice component communicates with other services/components through simple interfaces.

To explain Microservice architecture, we need to first acknowledge a well-known and typical architecture, i.e. Monolithic architecture. In Monolithic architecture, all the features live in one single environment, and all the systems store and consume data generally from a single location. In this approach, there is a high level of coupling.

Whereas, in Microservice architecture each feature lives inside a strictly isolated component/service, in which it is only accessed by itself. In this approach the level of coupling is inexistent.

Advantages of Microservice:

• In Microservice, each feature performs independently and deploys services resulting in faster decision making.
• Different teams can implement different services simultaneously, and hence dependency between teams is almost eliminated. This all happens due to the small size and autonomy of Microservice.
• In Microservice there is improved portability across different platforms/environments because Microservice can easily be deployed on containers.
• In Microservice, scalability is relatively easier and more performant, as each service is more elastic.
• If one Microservice fails then others continue to function.

Disadvantages of Microservice:

• In Microservice the application is more complex, as it has more moving parts than the equivalent monolithic application.
• Testing the Microservices can be cumbersome & complicated, mainly because of their distributed nature. As the components are distributed, developers can not test an entire system from their single machine.
• Dealing with multiple databases can be a time-consuming process.
• The interface control becomes critical, due to a large number of APIs, all crucial to the operation of the enterprise.
• It needs sufficient hosting infrastructure with security and maintenance support. So it needs lots of skilled staff and development teams.

Web service is a type of software architecture that provides services such as data messaging, communication through the standardized messaging system over WWW(World Wide Web). It includes application, software, or cloud technology that provides web protocols to interoperate, communicate and exchange data messaging on the internet.

The most important feature of web services is that communication among them is independent of the platform on which they are developed. Apart from this important feature, web service also comprises of these functions:

• Standardized XML(Extensive Markup Language) messaging system.
• Available over the Internet or Intranet.
• It supports communication among other applications such as HTML, SOAP, WSDL, and others.

Web Service Architecture:

The web service architecture consists of three parts:

• Service Provider: It creates web services and publishes them to the outside world, by registering the service.
• Service Requester: A request is issued by this entity to utilize the web service by sending an XML request.
• Registry: It maintains a registry in which web service provides new service or find existing web service. It acts as a godown for their services.

There are primarily two types of web services, i.e. SOAP(all information exchange happens over a single format – XML) and RESTful(it communicates between applications using REST principal).

Advantages of web services:

• It reveals the existing function of the framework.
• Interoperability is the most important benefit of web service. Its objective is to give a consistent and programmed association with one programming application then to the next.
• Implementation is another advantage in which web services are deployed or arranged over internet technology.
• It provides ease of use, as web services are easy to convey and they are conveyed over standard internet advancements.
• Web Services use XML for data depiction and transportation. So there is a minimal effort in communication.

Disadvantages of web service:

• It needs specialized machine requirements, which creates a lag in handling a variety of customers.
• Every user who uses the internet knows that site is not available all the time. Because of this situation, it is often required to build a mechanism that will retry the transaction.
• The transaction process is not available currently in the SOAP process.
• Web Services are available to the public through HTTP-based protocol, so everyone can access web services, which is a major flaw of web service, i.e. security.

Difference between Microservice & Webservice:

Microservices and web services both have their own advantages and disadvantages. Enterprise more suited for microservice architecture is those that have an organizational culture, comfortable with distributing work among small development teams. Also by using microservice you can get a reliable and scalable application which is great for startups.

Whereas, web services are used today for communication and exchange of data between different applications or platforms. And because of its connection with numerous other programs, it performs effectively in larger and corporate application systems.