Differences between Model-Driven Development of Service-Oriented and Microservice Architecture

Microservice Architecture (MSA) denotes a novel service-based architectural style with a strong focus on highly cohesive, loosely coupled services. A Microservice realizes a distinct architectural capability and exhibits a high degree of independence regarding development and operation. An alternative to MSA is the Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) style, which also leverages services as building blocks of distributed software systems. While MSA research is still formative, theoretical and practical aspects of SOA are being studied for more than a decade. Hence the question arises, in which areas and to what extent MSA research can draw on findings of SOA research. In this paper we address this question in the area of Model-driven Development (MDD), which has been intensively studied for SOA. Therefore, we identify conceptual and practical differences between SOA and MSA, and classify them on the basis of a hierarchical scheme. Starting from the identified differences we deduce implications on MDD of MSA and discuss them with respect to the existing body of knowledge of MDD of SOA. Hence, we provide an initial overview of differences between SOA and MSA, as well as implications in certain areas of MDD to consider when adapting service-oriented MDD to MSA.