Implementing Micro-Frontends with Angular

1. Introduction

Micro-Frontends is an architectural style that enables the development of web applications as a composition of independently deployable, smaller applications. This lesson explores how to implement micro-frontends using Angular.

2. What are Micro-Frontends?

Micro-Frontends extend the principles of microservices to the frontend, allowing for a more modular approach to application development.

• Each micro-frontend can be developed, tested, and deployed independently.
• Different technologies can be used for different micro-frontends.
• Micro-frontends communicate with each other through APIs.

3. Benefits of Micro-Frontends

• Improved scalability
• Faster time to market
• Enhanced team autonomy
• Technology agnosticism

4. Implementing Micro-Frontends

To implement micro-frontends with Angular, follow these steps:

1. Set up a Shell Application: This will serve as the main application that loads micro-frontends.

   ng new shell-app --routing

2. Create Micro-Frontend Applications: Each micro-frontend can be an Angular application.

   ng new mfe1 --routing

3. Use Module Federation: Configure Webpack 5 for module federation.

   const ModuleFederationPlugin = require("webpack").container.ModuleFederationPlugin;
   
   plugins: [
       new ModuleFederationPlugin({
           name: "mfe1",
           filename: "remoteEntry.js",
           exposes: {
               './Component': './src/app/app.component.ts',
           },
           shared: {
               "@angular/core": { singleton: true, strictVersion: true },
               "@angular/common": { singleton: true, strictVersion: true },
           },
       }),
   ],
   

4. Integrate Micro-Frontends: Load micro-frontends in the shell application using dynamic imports.

   const mfe1 = import("mfe1/Component");

5. Best Practices

• Ensure consistent styling across micro-frontends.
• Use versioning for micro-frontend APIs.
• Implement robust error handling and fallback mechanisms.

6. FAQ