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Core Concepts

Understanding these fundamental concepts will help you get the most out of Zephyr Cloud.

Micro-Frontends

Micro-Frontends is an architectural pattern that extends the concept of microservices to frontend development. It allows you to:

  • Split large applications into smaller, manageable pieces
  • Enable independent development by different teams
  • Use different frameworks within the same application
  • Deploy components independently without affecting the whole app

Zephyr Cloud is purpose-built for Micro-Frontend applications, making complex deployment scenarios simple.

Module Federation

Module Federation is the underlying technology that enables Micro-Frontends. It allows JavaScript applications to:

  • Share code dynamically at runtime
  • Load remote modules from other applications
  • Expose components for other applications to consume

Zephyr handles the complexity of Module Federation configuration and dependency resolution automatically.

Key Terminology

Host Application

The main application that consumes remote modules from other applications. Also known as a "shell" application.

Remote Application

An application that exposes modules for consumption by host applications. These are the micro-frontends.

Federated Modules

Specific components, functions, or pages that are exposed by remote applications and consumed by hosts.

Application Versions

Every deployment to Zephyr creates a new version of your application. You can:

  • Preview any version using our Chrome extension or dashboard
  • Rollback instantly to previous versions
  • Promote versions to production with one click

Dependencies

Zephyr automatically resolves and manages:

  • Shared dependencies between federated applications
  • Version compatibility across your micro-frontends
  • Dynamic loading of remote modules

Environments

Organize your deployments using environments like:

  • Development - for active development and testing
  • Staging - for pre-production validation
  • Production - for live applications

Edge Deployment

Zephyr deploys your applications to the edge, providing:

  • Sub-second deployment times
  • Global distribution for low latency
  • Automatic caching and optimization
  • Seamless rollbacks and version management

Version Control vs Git

While Git manages your source code versions, Zephyr provides runtime version control:

  • Git tracks code changes and development history
  • Zephyr tracks deployed application states and enables instant rollbacks
  • Both work together - Zephyr versions map to your Git commits

This separation allows you to test in production safely and rollback instantly without waiting for CI/CD pipelines.

Next Steps

Now that you understand the core concepts, you're ready to:

  1. Follow our Quick Start guide
  2. Learn about Architecture
  3. Build your first Micro-Frontend application