From Detection to Refactoring of Microservice Bad Smells: A Systematic Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5753/jserd.2025.5224Keywords:
Microservice, Bad Smells, Refactoring, SLRAbstract
The extensive adoption of microservices architecture by technology companies is driven by its expected advantages, such as scalability, simplicity of development, and resilience, likely due to its cloud-native nature. However, the increasing complexity associated with this architecture can lead to the emergence of microservice smells, analogous to code smells, indicating potential architectural design issues. Despite the identification of numerous microservice smells in the literature, cohesive documentation to support architects detecting and refactoring them. This study conducts a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to deepen the understanding of these microservice smells, explore detection tools and identify refactoring strategies to mitigate them. We conducted searches across six popular digital libraries, analyzing 27 relevant papers. As a result, we cataloged 104 distinct microservice bad smells, identified 7 detection tools, and compiled refactoring strategies for the most prevalent smells. This documentation aims to assist engineers and architects in identifying and effectively addressing microservice bad smells, thereby enhancing the quality and maintainability of microservice-based systems.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Mateus Dutra, Denis Pinheiro, Johnatan Oliveira, Eduardo Figueiredo
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