Sharing Modules Across Different Applications: Dynamic Module Federation with Nx Workspace

Module federation allows developers to share modules between different applications, enabling them to build more modular and scalable systems allowing different applications to share modules dynamically at runtime.

Dynamic module federation takes module sharing to the next level by enabling applications to load and unload modules dynamically.

The benefits of this approach include reduced code duplication and faster development cycles, making it an attractive option for developers to consider in their projects.

Practical example using the Nx workspace

Nx.dev delivers a practical example of how to implement dynamic module federation in an Angular application using the Nx workspace.

The tutorial on provides a step-by-step guide which the key steps are:

1. Create an Nx workspace and an Angular application within it using the Nx CLI.
2. Modify the webpack.config.js file to enable module federation and define the shared modules.
3. Define a remoteEntry.js file in the remote application to expose the shared modules.
4. Use the loadRemoteModule function in the host application to dynamically load the remote module.
5. Set up routing in the host application to load the remote module on demand.
6. Test the implementation by running the applications and verifying that the module is loaded correctly.

The first step involves creating an Nx workspace and an Angular application within it using the Nx CLI and installing the necessary dependencies.

In the second step, you need to modify the webpack.config.js and define the shared modules. Then, you configure module federation in the webpack.config.js file by adding the ModuleFederationPlugin to the plugins array and define the shared modules by adding them to the shared object.

In the third step, you work on a file to expose the shared modules. This involves creating a remoteEntry.js file in the remote application's src directory and exporting the shared modules using the __webpack_share_scopes__ object.

In step four, developers use the loadRemoteModule function in the host application to dynamically load the remote module. They import the loadRemoteModule function from @angular-architects/module-federation in the host application and use the loadRemoteModule function to dynamically load the remote module when needed.

In step five, you set up routing to load the remote module on demand. It's done by defining a route for the remote module in the host application's app-routing.module.ts file and use the loadRemoteModule function to load the remote module in the route's component.

Finally, in step six, you can test the implementation by running the applications and verifying that the module is loaded correctly.

By following these steps, you can implement dynamic module federation in your Angular applications, allowing for the dynamic loading and unloading of modules at runtime.

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