What is a key characteristic of a microservices architecture?

A key characteristic of a microservices architecture is the organization of applications as a collection of loosely coupled services. This design approach allows each service to be developed, deployed, and scaled independently of others, promoting flexibility and resilience in applications. Each microservice can be built using different technologies and programming languages, as long as they adhere to agreed communication standards, typically via APIs. This decoupling makes it easier to manage complex systems and enables teams to work on different parts of an application concurrently without causing dependencies to bottleneck the entire system.

The choices regarding a single large database suggest a monolithic approach where services are tightly integrated, which is contrary to the microservices philosophy of autonomy. Focusing solely on client-side applications misses the broader perspective that microservices encompass back-end functionality and services that can interact with various clients. Lastly, stating that microservices eliminate the need for APIs overlooks the fact that APIs are essential for enabling communication between the loosely coupled services, making them a cornerstone of microservices architecture.