microweb

Microweb refers to a design philosophy and architectural pattern for building web applications that emphasizes extreme simplicity and a focus on a single, specific function. Unlike monolithic applications that bundle many features into a single codebase, or microservices that are independently deployable but often still quite feature-rich, microweb applications are designed to do one thing and do it well. This can involve anything from serving a simple static HTML page to performing a very specific data lookup or API interaction.

The core idea behind microweb is to minimize complexity and overhead. This often translates to very small codebases, minimal dependencies, and a streamlined deployment process. Because of their limited scope, microweb applications are typically very fast to develop, easy to understand, and highly efficient in terms of resource consumption. They are well-suited for tasks that don't require a large, complex application but rather a discrete, isolated piece of functionality.

The concept can be seen as an extension of the microservices idea, pushing the granularity even further. Instead of a service that handles all user authentication, a microweb might be responsible for just generating a single JWT token. This extreme decomposition can be beneficial in highly distributed systems where individual components need to be exceptionally lightweight and rapidly adaptable. However, it also introduces the challenge of managing a potentially vast number of very small services, which can lead to increased operational complexity if not handled carefully.