In today's fast-paced web development landscape, scalability and modularity are crucial for managing large applications. One of the most effective approaches to achieving this is through the use of Single-SPA (Single Single-Page Application) and microfrontends. This article will explore how to leverage these technologies to build a scalable web application and provide a practical guide on using a custom script to manage your microfrontends.

Understanding Single-SPA

Single-SPA is a framework designed to enable the integration of multiple single-page applications (SPAs) into a single application. This allows developers to build a cohesive web application from smaller, independently developed microfrontends. Key benefits of Single-SPA include:

• Modularity: Microfrontends can be developed, tested, and deployed independently, which enhances flexibility and accelerates development cycles.
• Framework Agnostic: Single-SPA supports the use of different frameworks (e.g., React, Vue, Angular) within the same application, allowing teams to use the best tools for their needs.
• Scalability: By breaking a large application into smaller parts, teams can manage and scale the application more effectively.

Microfrontends Architecture

Microfrontends follow a similar concept to microservices in backend development. The idea is to break down a large frontend application into smaller, more manageable pieces. Each microfrontend operates as an independent unit, responsible for a specific feature or section of the application. In a typical setup, these microfrontends are integrated into a single application by a main configuration file.

Project Structure

In our example project, the following microfrontends are included:

• root-config: Manages the routing and loading of microfrontends.
• styleguide: Provides style guidelines and reusable components.
• navbar: Handles the navigation bar for the application.
• utilities: Contains utility functions or services used across the application.
• procurement: Manages procurement-related functionality.

Managing Microfrontends with a Script

To streamline the development process, we use a custom Bash script that performs several tasks:

• Kill Existing Processes: Stops any processes running on ports 9000 through 9010 to prevent conflicts.
• Install Dependencies: Installs necessary dependencies for each microfrontend using pnpm.
• Start Services: Starts each microfrontend service in the background using pnpm start.
• Notification: Prints a message with the URL to access the application.

Here is the github: https://github.com/ehsangazar/singlespa

Single-SPA and microfrontends offer a powerful approach to building scalable and maintainable web applications. By breaking down the application into smaller, independent pieces, teams can enhance modularity and flexibility. The provided script simplifies the management of these microfrontends, ensuring a smooth development workflow. For further assistance, refer to the Single-SPA documentation and the documentation for each microfrontend.