A Quantitative Assessment Method for Microservices Granularity to Improve Maintainability

Famke Driessen; Luís Ferreira Pires; João Luiz Rebelo Moreira; Paul Verhoeven; Sander van den Bosch

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-54712-6_13

A Quantitative Assessment Method for Microservices Granularity to Improve Maintainability

Famke Driessen^*
, Luís Ferreira Pires
, João Luiz Rebelo Moreira
, Paul Verhoeven
, Sander van den Bosch

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

The popularity of microservices has increased over the past decade due to their potential benefits for distributed enterprise applications. Developing and maintaining a microservices architecture (MSA) is challenging, amongst others because the size (granularity) of the microservices has an impact on most system properties, such as, e.g., maintainability, performance, and scalability. Currently, architects determine the granularity of the microservices by identifying bounded contexts or business capabilities, which is mainly based on their experience. This paper presents a quantitative assessment method to evaluate the granularity of the microservices for improved system maintainability. The method is based on a set of metrics that are relevant for maintainability, namely change coupling, structural coupling, weighted service interface count, lines of code, service interface data cohesion, and change frequency. By evaluating these metrics, focusing on coupling, cohesion, and size, the method can assess refactors of an architecture in which microservices are merged or decomposed. We validated our method with three open source microservice-based projects with different sizes and structures. Our method can substantiate the design decisions concerning the granularity of microservices, identifying services that are candidates for merging and decomposition towards maintainability evolution, with clear benefits particularly for enterprise applications.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Enterprise design, operations, and computing
Subtitle of host publication	EDOC 2023 Workshops
Editors	Tiago Prince Sales, Sybren de Kinderen, Henderik A. Proper, Luise Pufahl, Dimka Karastoyanova, Marten van Sinderen
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer
Pages	211-226
Number of pages	16
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-031-54712-6
ISBN (Print)	978-3-031-54711-9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54712-6_13
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print/First online - 2 Mar 2024
Event	27th IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference, EDOC 2023 - the Bernoulli Institute at the University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands Duration: 30 Oct 2023 → 3 Nov 2023 Conference number: 27 https://www.rug.nl/research/bernoulli/conf/

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing (LNBIP)
Publisher	Springer
Volume	498
ISSN (Print)	1865-1348
ISSN (Electronic)	1865-1356

Conference

Conference	27th IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference, EDOC 2023
Abbreviated title	EDOC 2023
Country/Territory	Netherlands
City	Groningen
Period	30/10/23 → 3/11/23
Internet address	https://www.rug.nl/research/bernoulli/conf/

Keywords

2026 OA procedure
microservices architecture
granularity
maintainability
service coupling
service cohesion
change coupling

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-54712-6_13

Conference paperFinal published version, 301 KBLicence: Taverne

Cite this

Driessen, F., Pires, L. F., Moreira, J. L. R., Verhoeven, P., & Bosch, S. V. D. (2024). A Quantitative Assessment Method for Microservices Granularity to Improve Maintainability. In T. P. Sales, S. de Kinderen, H. A. Proper, L. Pufahl, D. Karastoyanova, & M. van Sinderen (Eds.), Enterprise design, operations, and computing: EDOC 2023 Workshops (pp. 211-226). (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing (LNBIP); Vol. 498). Springer. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54712-6_13

Driessen, Famke ; Pires, Luís Ferreira ; Moreira, João Luiz Rebelo et al. / A Quantitative Assessment Method for Microservices Granularity to Improve Maintainability. Enterprise design, operations, and computing: EDOC 2023 Workshops. editor / Tiago Prince Sales ; Sybren de Kinderen ; Henderik A. Proper ; Luise Pufahl ; Dimka Karastoyanova ; Marten van Sinderen. Cham : Springer, 2024. pp. 211-226 (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing (LNBIP)).

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abstract = "The popularity of microservices has increased over the past decade due to their potential benefits for distributed enterprise applications. Developing and maintaining a microservices architecture (MSA) is challenging, amongst others because the size (granularity) of the microservices has an impact on most system properties, such as, e.g., maintainability, performance, and scalability. Currently, architects determine the granularity of the microservices by identifying bounded contexts or business capabilities, which is mainly based on their experience. This paper presents a quantitative assessment method to evaluate the granularity of the microservices for improved system maintainability. The method is based on a set of metrics that are relevant for maintainability, namely change coupling, structural coupling, weighted service interface count, lines of code, service interface data cohesion, and change frequency. By evaluating these metrics, focusing on coupling, cohesion, and size, the method can assess refactors of an architecture in which microservices are merged or decomposed. We validated our method with three open source microservice-based projects with different sizes and structures. Our method can substantiate the design decisions concerning the granularity of microservices, identifying services that are candidates for merging and decomposition towards maintainability evolution, with clear benefits particularly for enterprise applications.",

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Driessen, F, Pires, LF , Moreira, JLR, Verhoeven, P & Bosch, SVD 2024, A Quantitative Assessment Method for Microservices Granularity to Improve Maintainability. in TP Sales, S de Kinderen, HA Proper, L Pufahl, D Karastoyanova & M van Sinderen (eds), Enterprise design, operations, and computing: EDOC 2023 Workshops. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing (LNBIP), vol. 498, Springer, Cham, pp. 211-226, 27th IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference, EDOC 2023, Groningen, Netherlands, 30/10/23. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54712-6_13

A Quantitative Assessment Method for Microservices Granularity to Improve Maintainability. / Driessen, Famke; Pires, Luís Ferreira ; Moreira, João Luiz Rebelo et al.
Enterprise design, operations, and computing: EDOC 2023 Workshops. ed. / Tiago Prince Sales; Sybren de Kinderen; Henderik A. Proper; Luise Pufahl; Dimka Karastoyanova; Marten van Sinderen. Cham: Springer, 2024. p. 211-226 (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing (LNBIP); Vol. 498).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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Driessen F, Pires LF , Moreira JLR, Verhoeven P, Bosch SVD. A Quantitative Assessment Method for Microservices Granularity to Improve Maintainability. In Sales TP, de Kinderen S, Proper HA, Pufahl L, Karastoyanova D, van Sinderen M, editors, Enterprise design, operations, and computing: EDOC 2023 Workshops. Cham: Springer. 2024. p. 211-226. (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing (LNBIP)). Epub 2024 Mar 2. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-54712-6_13