Domain-Driven Design in Microservices-Based Systems Development: A Systematic Literature Review and Thematic Analysis

With the increment in software development complexity, approaches such as domain-driven design (DDD) are needed to tackle contemporary business domains. DDD is already being used in various software projects with different architectural styles. Evidence in the literature suggests using DDD to mitigate challenges in the Microservices Architecture style. Although some studies have explored the decomposition of business domains or legacy monolithic systems into microservices, there is a lack of concrete information regarding the practical implementation of DDD in this architectural style. This has led to ambiguity regarding the use of DDD in developing microservices-based systems. The paper systematizes findings on the purpose of using DDD, its patterns, associated technologies, and techniques. A systematic literature review of 35 articles was conducted. Thematic analysis was employed to identify five high-order themes and 11 themes. Based on our analysis, we have concluded that microservice identification emerges as the primary motivation behind developers' adoption of DDD. However, it is important to note that this utilization manifests with variations across the literature. Finally, our analysis found several challenges and benefits in the use of DDD in microservices development.