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Best Approach

As someone new to Micro Frontends, the best approach for you will depend on your team size, project structure, and deployment preferences. Here's a detailed breakdown of the three strategies and which one is easiest to start with:

✅ 1. Monorepo (Easiest to Start)

Monorepo means keeping all your micro frontends in a single repository. This is the easiest approach for small teams or when you're just starting with micro frontends.

✅ Why Monorepo is Easiest:

  • Single Codebase: Everything is in one Git repository.
  • Easy to manage shared code: You don’t need a package manager to sync versions across micro frontends.
  • Fast setup: No need for complex CI/CD pipelines for each micro frontend.
🚀 Example Structure
modern-frontend/
├── packages/
│   ├── app1/
│   ├── app2/
│   └── shared-lib/
└── package.json
🚧 When to Use
  • Small projects.
  • Single team managing multiple micro frontends.
  • You need fast collaboration.

Pros:

  • ✅ Easy to set up and manage.
  • ✅ Shared libraries can be updated without publishing separate packages.
  • ✅ Easier CI/CD pipeline (one pipeline for the whole project).

Cons:

  • ❌ Doesn’t scale well for large teams or multiple independent deployments.
  • ❌ Slower build times as the repo grows.
🛠 Tools to Use for Monorepo

  • Nx (recommended for React-based projects):

    pnpm add -g nx
nx create-nx-workspace modern-frontend

  • Turborepo: Another fast build system for monorepos.

🗂️ 2. Independent Repos (More Advanced)

In this setup, each micro frontend has its own Git repository, its own CI/CD pipeline, and is deployed independently.

🚀 Example Structure
GitHub/
├── app1/
├── app2/
└── shared-lib/
🚧 When to Use
  • Large projects with multiple teams.
  • Each team works on a different micro frontend.
  • You need independent deployment.

Pros:

  • ✅ Each micro frontend can be developed, tested, and deployed independently.
  • ✅ Teams can work in parallel without affecting each other.
  • ✅ Scales well for large organizations.

Cons:

  • ❌ Harder to manage shared code (you need to publish shared libraries).
  • ❌ Complex CI/CD pipelines.
  • ❌ Requires more DevOps setup and versioning.

🔄 3. Versioning and Caching (Intermediate)

This is a more advanced approach where you use versioning to manage shared libraries between micro frontends and cache static assets to reduce loading times.

✅ Why Use Versioning & Caching:

  • Prevents breaking changes in shared code.
  • Improves performance by caching micro frontend assets.
🚧 When to Use
  • When your micro frontends are already live and you need backward compatibility.
  • When you want better performance for loading micro frontends.

Pros:

  • ✅ Prevents breaking changes with versioned APIs.
  • ✅ Improved performance with caching mechanisms.

Cons:

  • ❌ Requires more complex setups (like Webpack Module Federation or Vite).
  • ❌ Harder for beginners to manage version conflicts.

🏆 Recommendation for You: Monorepo

Since you're new to Micro Frontends, start with the Monorepo approach because:

  • It’s easier to set up and manage.
  • You can learn the concepts of micro frontends without worrying about complex deployment pipelines.
  • You can migrate to Independent Repos later as your project grows.

🚀 Steps to Set Up Monorepo for Micro Frontends:

1️⃣ Install Nx (Monorepo Tool):

pnpm add -g nx

2️⃣ Create a Workspace:

nx create-nx-workspace modern-frontend

3️⃣ Add Micro Frontends (Apps):

nx generate @nx/react:app app1
nx generate @nx/react:app app2

4️⃣ Set Up Module Federation for Micro Frontends:

  • Use Webpack Module Federation to share components and state between micro frontends.

🧑‍💻 Key Concepts to Learn Next:

  • Module Federation (for sharing code between micro frontends).
  • Nx or Turborepo (for managing Monorepos).
  • CI/CD Pipelines for deploying micro frontends.