Build Well-Designed Microservice APIs to Avoid Technical Debt

Microservice technical debt problems often arise due to lack of automation and inadequate handling of microservice interfaces. Developers tend to overlook the drastically different role of APIs when transitioning from monolithic systems, leading to challenges in refactoring API definitions and increased complexity in refactoring efforts. Poorly designed or absent interfaces can limit iteration capabilities and create technical debt that may need to be paid down in the future. To avoid such issues, it is crucial to clearly define microservices among project components, iteratively extract services one at a time, introduce automation for pain points, and schedule delivery of microservice interfaces early in the project. Adopting an interface-first development methodology can help uncover missed use-cases or gaps early on and reduce the need for rework. Ultimately, it is up to the adopter to determine if the long-term cost of technical debt is worth the short-term time savings.