Versioning Strategies for Micro Frontends

1. Introduction

Versioning in micro frontends is crucial for managing dependencies, ensuring compatibility, and facilitating smooth deployments. This lesson explores effective versioning strategies that can help teams maintain their micro frontend architecture efficiently.

2. Key Concepts

• Micro Frontends: A technique where a frontend application is decomposed into smaller, independently deployable pieces.
• Versioning: The process of assigning version numbers to new iterations of an application or component.
• Semantic Versioning: A versioning scheme that uses a three-part number (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH).

3. Versioning Strategies

3.1 Semantic Versioning

Semantic Versioning (SemVer) establishes a clear and predictable way to version software. The versioning format is MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.

3.2 API Versioning

API versioning involves creating a new version of the API for each major change. This can be accomplished through URL versioning, request headers, or query parameters.

        // Example of URL versioning
        GET /api/v1/products
        GET /api/v2/products
        

3.3 Branching Strategies

Use branching strategies in your version control system such as Git to manage different versions of your micro frontends. Common strategies include:

• Feature branching
• Release branching
• Hotfix branching

3.4 Deprecation Policy

A clear deprecation policy helps manage the lifecycle of micro frontend components. Announce deprecations far in advance and provide migration paths.

4. Best Practices

• Document all version changes in a changelog.
• Ensure backward compatibility where possible.
• Use automated testing to validate version compatibility.
• Communicate changes to the team regularly.

5. FAQ