Ripple CI: Build time Micro Frontends | by Mike Chen | Jan, 2025
Modern web applications demand modularity and scalability, especially in large teams working on independent features. Microfrontends have become a popular architecture to address these demands by dividing a monolithic frontend into smaller, independently developed, and deployable modules.
However, ensuring seamless integration and maintaining stability in such distributed development requires careful orchestration, particularly during the build process.
In this article, first, we will understand the foundational concepts of components and composable micro frontends — the building blocks of this modern web architecture. Next, we’ll explore Ripple CI, a CI/CD tool designed to bring stability and predictability to build-time microfrontends.
Before diving into Ripple CI, it’s essential to understand components and composable microfrontends, which are critical to creating scalable, modular web applications.
Components: Building Blocks of Reuse
Components are self-contained units of functionality that encapsulate UI, logic, data and dependencies. They are the foundation of modern microfrontend architectures, enabling teams to work autonomously while maintaining consistency and reusability.
Components transform microfrontends into scalable, maintainable systems by standardizing code reuse and reducing duplication.
Key Features of Components:
- Reusability: Shared across microfrontends to unify design and functionality.
- Encapsulation: Operate independently, reducing dependencies and conflicts.
- Versioning: Managed and updated separately to ensure compatibility.
Example:
A shared design system component for buttons ensures consistency across all microfrontends while allowing individual teams to focus on their specific modules.
And it doesn’t stop here; you can build more complex components by composing these individual components together.
