Kubernetes is emblematic of a movement in technology -- a movement away from monolithic architectures, towards what’s known as microservices architecture, where services are decoupled, isolated, and only as big as they absolutely have to be. These individual microservices are deployed in containers that are launched in seconds and may be terminated only after minutes of usage. 

Since none of this is visible to an end user, why go through the work of unbundling and containerizing your monolith? Simple: it’s easier to develop and maintain in nearly every way. From executing upgrades, to allocating resources with precision, to isolating performance issues, the advantages of a microservices architecture over a monolithic one are vast. In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know to be an effective leader as your team tackles the process of building out microservices. But first, let’s start with some basic ideas you’ll see mentioned throughout all of these chapters.