Building Microservices, 2nd Edition

Glossary

aggregate

A collection of objects that are managed as a single entity, typically referring to real-world concepts. A concept from DDD.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

The public cloud offering from Amazon.

API gateway

A component that normally sits on the perimeter of a system and routes calls from external sources (such as user interfaces) to microservices, amongst many other things.

authentication

The process whereby a principal proves that they are who they say they are. This could be as simple as a person providing their username and password.

authorization

The process that determines if an authorized principal is allowed to access a given piece of functionality.

Azure

The public cloud offering from Microsoft.

backend for frontend (BFF)

A server-side component that provides aggregation and filtering for a specific user interface. An alternative to a general-purpose API gateway.

bounded context

An explicit boundary within a business domain that provides functionality to the wider system, but which also hides complexity. Often maps to organizational boundaries. A concept from DDD.

bulkhead

A part of the system in which a failure can be isolated, so that the rest of the system can keep operating even if a failure occurs.

choreography

A style of saga, where responsibility for what should happen when is distributed across multiple microservices, rather than managed by a single entity.

circuit breaker

A mechanism placed around a connection to a downstream ...