A Systematic Mapping Study on Microservices Architecture in DevOps

TL;DR

This systematic mapping study reviews 47 research papers on Microservices Architecture in DevOps, categorizing themes, problems, solutions, tools, and application domains to guide future research and practice.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive classification and analysis of existing research on MSA in DevOps, highlighting key themes, problems, solutions, and tools.

Findings

Identified three main research themes in MSA in DevOps.

Cataloged 24 problems and solutions related to MSA implementation in DevOps.

Collected 50 supporting tools for MSA in DevOps.

Abstract

Context: Applying Microservices Architecture (MSA) in DevOps has received significant attention in recent years. However, there exists no comprehensive review of the state of research on this topic. Objective: This work aims to systematically identify, analyze, and classify the literature on MSA in DevOps. Method: A Systematic Mapping Study (SMS) has been conducted on the literature published between January 2009 and July 2018. Results: Forty-seven studies were finally selected and the key results are: (1) Three themes on the research on MSA in DevOps are "microservices development and operations in DevOps", "approaches and tool support for MSA based systems in DevOps", and "MSA migration experiences in DevOps". (2) 24 problems with their solutions regarding implementing MSA in DevOps are identified. (3) MSA is mainly described by using boxes and lines. (4) Most of the quality attributes are positively affected when employing MSA in DevOps. (5) 50 tools that support building MSA based systems in DevOps are collected. (6) The combination of MSA and DevOps has been applied in a wide range of application domains. Conclusions: The results and findings will benefit researchers and practitioners to conduct further research and bring more dedicated solutions for the issues of MSA in DevOps.