# Module Federation with Vite
The microfrontend movement is reshaping the landscape of web development, offering a compelling solution to the complexities of building large, monolithic applications.
At the heart of this revolution lies Module Federation, a game-changing feature introduced in Webpack 5.
With @module-federation/vite you can use Module Federation inside Vite and that's amazing.
From today you can do much more. With the new v.1.0.0 you can seamlessly integrate Vite and Webpack projects.
# Microfrontend Motivations
Instead of a single, monolithic application, Module Federation promotes the development of smaller, independent applications, each responsible for a specific part of the user interface or functionality.
These applications are known as microfrontends.
In essence, microfrontends break down a monolithic frontend application into smaller, loosely coupled, and independently deployable units.
It's crucial to grasp the motivations behind microfrontends and the advantages they offer.
This architectural shift brings forth numerous benefits.
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Each team is responsible for developing and maintaining their own microfrontend, leading to increased accountability and ownership. Teams can collaborate more effectively by focusing on specific functionalities and sharing knowledge within their own areas.
Updating or fixing bugs in a specific feature only requires modifying the relevant microfrontend, without impacting the entire application. This simplifies maintenance and reduces the risk of introducing regressions.
This approach reduce team communications and encourage teams to communicate asynchronously through documentation, issue trackers, and code reviews.
This allows teams to work at their own pace and focus on their tasks without interruptions.
It also provides a clear record of communication, reducing the need for repeated conversations and misunderstandings.
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However, it's important to remember that microfrontends don't eliminate the need for communication altogether because teams still need to coordinate on shared infrastructure, design principles, and overall application strategy.
Clear communication channels and collaborative tools remain crucial for successful collaboration, even in a microfrontend architecture.
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Teams can work on different microfrontends simultaneously without blocking each other, leading to faster feature development. Each microfrontend can be deployed independently, without affecting the rest of the application. This reduces the risk of downtime during deployments and allows for rapid iteration and feature releases.
Teams are no longer bound by the constraints of a monolithic codebase.
Features can be released to users much faster by deploying only the relevant microfrontend.
This allows for quicker feedback loops and continuous improvement. The modular nature of microfrontends enables new features to be added quickly without affecting existing functionalities.
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Smaller codebases are inherently easier to understand, maintain, and scale, leading to improved application stability and performance.
Teams can choose the best technology for each microfrontend, allowing for experimentation and adoption of new technologies without affecting other parts of the application and without hindering other parts of the application.
Microfrontends promote flexibility in technology choices, allowing teams to adopt new frameworks and libraries for specific parts of the application without impacting the entire system.
# v.1.0.0 is a game changer release
Vite has emerged as a leading frontend build tool known for its lightning-fast development experience and efficient production builds.
@module-federation/vite harnesses the power of Vite, bringing the benefits of Module Federation to a wider audience.
At the heart of @module-federation/vite lies the concept of Module Federation, a powerful feature introduced in Webpack 5 that enables code sharing between independent applications at runtime.
In simpler terms, Module Federation allows one application to dynamically load and use code modules from another, forming the foundation for building cohesive microfrontend architectures.
Here's a breakdown of the key concepts in Module Federation:
- Host Application: The main application that integrates and displays microfrontends.
- Remote Application: Independent applications representing specific features or components, served as microfrontends.
- Exposes: Modules or components that a remote application makes available to the host application.
- Shared Modules: Common dependencies used by both host and remote applications, ensuring version consistency and reducing bundle sizes.
# Key Features of @module-federation/vite:
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Seamless Integration with Vite: Effortlessly integrate Module Federation into your Vite projects with a simple plugin configuration.
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Simplified Remote Application Setup: Easily configure remote applications to expose their components and modules.
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Dynamic Imports and Federated Modules: Dynamically load remote application components into your host application at runtime.
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Shared Dependency Management: Manage shared dependencies efficiently, ensuring version consistency and reducing bundle sizes.
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Developer-Friendly API: Leverage a clean and intuitive API for configuring Module Federation settings.
Mix and Match Webpack Vite Rspack apps
Excellent ease of integration of several different bundlers thanks to the fact that it is using
Module Federation core codebase.
Module Federation core codebase.
# Show me the code
With @module-federation/vite, the process becomes delightfully simple, you will only find the differences from a normal Vite configuration.
This example is with Vue.js
The @module-federation/vite configuration remains the same for different frameworks.
remote/vite.config.ts
In this remote app configuration, we define a remoteEntry.js file that will expose the App component.
The shared property ensures that both host and remote applications use the same vue library.
host/vite.config.ts
The host app configuration specifies its name, the filename of its exposed remote entry remoteEntry.js, and importantly, the configuration of the remote application to load.
In your host app, you can now import and use the remote app with defineAsyncComponent
host/src/App.vue
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By leveraging the power of @module-federation/vite, you've now integrated a Microfrontend application from a separate URL.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
With this approach, you can create modular, independent applications that communicate seamlessly, leading to better maintainability, faster development cycles, and ultimately, a more scalable and resilient architecture.
# Try it now!
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# Contributors
Special thanks to ZhangHongEn for this v1 release and to the other contributors too:
# Conclusions
The combination of Vite and Module Federation represents a significant leap forward in web development.
This powerful duo empowers developers to build modular, independent, and scalable applications, paving the way for a future where complex projects are assembled from smaller, reusable building blocks.
Vite's lightning-fast development server and efficient build process provide the perfect foundation for deploying these modules. Meanwhile, Module Federation allows us to dynamically load and share code across different applications, fostering code reuse, improved performance, and reduced bundle sizes.
This approach significantly simplifies the development and deployment of complex applications. You can now break down large projects into manageable chunks, enabling teams to work independently on different features and components while still ensuring a cohesive final product.
While some challenges remain, like the need for careful consideration of versioning and dependencies, the potential of Module Federation is undeniable. By embracing this technology, you are not only building better applications today but also shaping the future of web development, where modularity and collaboration reign supreme.