Final Thesis: Syntactic Interoperability in Microservice-based Architectures
Abstract: Nowadays, many applications are developed using a microservice-based architecture. In this context, a software product consists of many individually developed services that communicate over a network. As microservices do not necessarily share a common code base, syntactic interoperability remains a major challenge with this architectural style. The objective of this work is to provide a conceptual framework that helps overcome syntactic interoperability issues in microservice-based architectures. This thesis follows the design science research methodology defined by Peffers et al., 2007. Interviews with industry experts are conducted to gain insight into current problems and state-of-the-art solutions concerning interoperability. These insights are processed to create a categorization system. The categorization system’s applicability is demonstrated in a case study within the JValue project. Finally, the categorization system is validated through triangulation and member checking to confirm its credibility. We have found six categories with two to three characteristics each that are important when developing solutions to overcome interoperability in microservice-based software projects. The categorization system proves itself as a valuable tool for analyzing and improving software processes with respect to interoperability issues in microservice-based architectures.
Keywords: microservices, interoperability, openAPI, categorization system, client code generation
PDF: Master Thesis
Reference: Johannes Jablonski. Syntactic Interoperability in Microservice-based Architectures. Master Thesis. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg: 2023.