[cliftonc]

This looks like a copy of an idea we built a few years ago (https://github.com/tes/compoxure) - still in heavy use at my previous company, along with lots of other folks like Zalando (https://github.com/zalando/tailor).

We ended up deciding that with the move to component based front end frameworks (react, storybook etc) that the overhead of this wasn't worth the benefits - every developer needs it running, along with lots of services etc.

I'd love to understand what others are thinking about composition on the front end these days. I guess the fact this just got created means that the problem we were trying to solve in 2014 still exists - so perhaps I have my answer?

[Arnavion]

It sounds like a much older Java thing called JSR 168 Portlets. I remember briefly working with those in 2012, but Wikipedia says the spec is from 2003.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Portlet_Specification

https://www.infoworld.com/article/2073645/introducing-the-po...

Edit: Actually, given the timing, I was probably using JSR 286 Portlets 2.0 (2008).

[backa]

:) see my comment -- yes, portlets are a source of inspiration for some things. As said, we need to share more to enable people to tell us if this makes sense...

[jakearmitage]

Since you mentioned e-commerce: I find it much easier to do a less micro approach and go for medium. Create specific frontends for different domains: my account, cart, checkout, search...

[backa]

Interesting that you compare Stacker to compoxure. Will need to look deeper into it, but I see a few things Stacker does in a very different way, plus it contains a lot of things compoxure seems to not touch (which, by all means, can be a good thing, please don't misunderstand me).

I only speak for us at betterdoc -- we created Stacker in order to be able to create tools that can be stacked together like containers (the real ones used for shipping things) to form various workplaces. It enables us to mix and match tools without changing code - just by configuration - and we discovered that this is not just a theoretical option, but happens regularly.

The basic idea predates 2014 by far - one of the first things I have worked on back in 2006 was a portlet server (anybody remembering this?), and now we solve many of the problems we tried to solve back then, again, with a different approach and spin.

All I can say is that working on Stacker in the last years was fun, and developing services that serve micro front ends for it gets more fun and efficient with every small step we take.

Cannot wait to share more about the ideas behind it :)