BFF_Pattern

BFF

• aka BFF
  • Separate backend services for different types of clients, such as desktop and mobile.
  • Single backend service doesn’t need to handle the conflicting requirements of various client types.
• Steps:
  • Call the relevant microservices APIs and obtain the needed data
  • Format the data based on the frontend representation
  • Send the formatted data to the frontend

• Ideally, the front-end team will be responsible for managing the BFF as well
• A single BFF is focused on a single UI, and that UI only
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/patterns/backends-for-frontends
• https://blog.bitsrc.io/bff-pattern-backend-for-frontend-an-introduction-e4fa965128bf

Advantages

• Separation of concerns
  • Frontend requirements will be separated from the backend concerns. This is easier for maintenance.
• Easier to maintain APIs
  • The client will know less about your APIs structure, which will make it more resilient to changes in those APIs.
• Better error handling in the frontend
  • Server errors are meaningless to the frontend user most of the time.
  • Instead of directly returning the error server sends, the BFF can map out errors that need to be shown to the user.
  • This will improve the user experience.
• Multiple device types can call the backend in parallel
  • While the browser is making a request to the browser BFF, the mobile devices can do the same. It will help obtain responses from the services faster.
• Better security
  • Certain sensitive information can be hidden, and unnecessary data to the frontend can be omitted when sending back a response to the frontend.
  • The abstraction will make it harder for attackers to target the application.
• Shared team ownership of components
  • Frontend teams can owns both their client application and its underlying resource consumption layer