How to implement micro front-end architecture with Angular?

How to implement micro front-end architecture with Angular?

Micro front-end is an architectural pattern where a single application is composed of smaller, independent and self-contained web applications. Each micro front-end is built and deployed independently, but they work together to create the overall user experience.

To implement micro front-end with Angular, you can follow these steps:

• Break down your application into smaller, independent features, and create separate Angular applications for each feature.
• Create a shared library or module that contains common functionalities such as authentication, authorization, and navigation.
• Use a shared package manager like NPM or Yarn to share the common library or module across all the micro front-ends.
• Use a framework or library like Webpack or SystemJS to bundle all the micro front-ends and their dependencies into a single, deployable artifact.
• Use a container technology like Docker to deploy the micro front-ends independently.
• Use a gateway or router to manage the routing and navigation between the micro front-ends.
• Implement communication between the micro front-ends using standard web protocols like REST or GraphQL.
• Monitor the performance and scalability of the micro front-ends using tools like Kibana or Grafana.

By following these steps, you can create a scalable, modular, and maintainable micro front-end architecture using Angular.

Micro front-end implementation example with Angular

Let's say we have a hypothetical e-commerce application that has three main features: product listing, shopping cart, and checkout. We want to implement these features as independent micro front-ends.

Step 1: Create separate Angular applications for each feature

We will create three separate Angular applications for each feature. To create a new Angular application, run the following command in the terminal:

ng new product-listing-app
ng new shopping-cart-app
ng new checkout-app

Step 2: Create a shared library

We will create a shared library that contains common functionalities like authentication, authorization, and navigation. To create a shared library, run the following command in the terminal:

ng generate library shared-lib

Step 3: Share the shared library

We will share the shared library across all the micro front-ends using NPM. To do this, we will build the shared library and publish it to a private NPM registry, run the following command in the terminal:

ng build shared-lib
npm login
npm publish

Step 4: Bundle the micro front-ends

We will use Webpack to bundle all the micro front-ends and their dependencies into a single, deployable artifact. To do this, we will create a Webpack configuration file for each micro front-end. Here's an example of a Webpack configuration file for the product listing micro front-end:

const path = require('path');
const webpack = require('webpack');
const HtmlWebpackPlugin = require('html-webpack-plugin');

module.exports = {
  entry: './src/main.ts',
  output: {
    path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist'),
    filename: 'product-listing-app.bundle.js'
  },
  resolve: {
    extensions: ['.ts', '.js']
  },
  module: {
    rules: [
      { test: /\.ts$/, loader: 'ts-loader' }
    ]
  },
  plugins: [
    new HtmlWebpackPlugin({
      template: './src/index.html'
    }),
    new webpack.ProvidePlugin({
      // global modules
    })
  ]
};

We will create similar Webpack configuration files for the shopping cart and checkout micro front-ends.

Step 5: Deploy the micro front-ends

We will use Docker to deploy the micro front-ends independently. To do this, we will create a Dockerfile for each micro front-end. Here's an example of a Dockerfile for the product listing micro front-end:

FROM node:latest
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY . .
RUN npm run build
EXPOSE 4200
CMD ["npm", "start"]

We will create similar Dockerfiles for the shopping cart and checkout micro front-ends.

Step 6: Manage routing and navigation

We will use a gateway or router to manage the routing and navigation between the micro front-ends. To do this, we will create an Angular application that acts as a gateway to the micro front-ends. Here's an example of a routing module for the gateway application:

import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { Routes, RouterModule } from '@angular/router';
import { ProductListingComponent } from 'product-listing-app';
import { ShoppingCartComponent } from 'shopping-cart-app';
import { CheckoutComponent } from 'checkout-app';

const routes: Routes = [
  { path: 'product-listing', component: ProductListingComponent },
  { path: 'shopping-cart', component: ShoppingCartComponent },
  { path: 'checkout', component: CheckoutComponent }
];

@NgModule({
  imports: [RouterModule.forRoot(routes)],
  exports: [RouterModule] )}