STRANGLER-FIG

Progressive enveloping legacy migration.

Definition

Strangler Fig involves: (1) routing facade in front of legacy ; (2) gradual extraction one endpoint at a time ; (3) the new service takes over the endpoint ; (4) repeat until 100% migrated ; (5) remove legacy. Benefits: zero big-bang, reversibility, granular rollback. Typical 2-5 year timeline for large legacy.

Origin

Pattern coined by Martin Fowler in June 2004 on martinfowler.com.

Example in context

Spotify replaced its original Python monolith in 6 years via Strangler Fig into 1500+ microservices.

Related terms

• ACL — DDD twin pattern.