The document provides an introduction to microservices architecture. It discusses how monolithic applications struggle with the need for speed, scale, and flexibility in modern cloud environments. Microservices address these challenges by decomposing applications into smaller, independent services. Each service runs in its own process and communicates over lightweight protocols like HTTP. This allows services to be developed, deployed, and scaled independently. The document outlines guidelines for designing microservices as well as benefits like improved understandability, reliability, and technology choice. It also notes potential downsides around complexity and testing. Examples are provided to illustrate differences between monolithic and microservice architectures.