title: Difference between a Module & Microservice
body: <p><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/45789168/what-is-the-difference-between-an-api-and-microservice">This abstract</a> gave the difference between a Microservice and an API as:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>A microservice exposes it's interface, what it can do, by means of an
    API. The API is the list of all endpoints that a microservice respond
    when it receives a command/query. The microservice contains the API
    and other internal+hidden things that it uses to respond to client's
    requests.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>I've worked with Modules &amp; Microservices in Java, but is there a better way to distinctively describe the differences between a Module &amp; a Microservice?</p>
  
  <p>Based on my experience several Modules were imported as part of a Microservice project. Is a Microservice a module of some kind with additional capabilities of exposing RESTful Endpoints? What distinctively differentiates a Module from a Microservice or vice-a-versa?</p>
  
  <p>Is there more we can discuss about the topic in question to clarify the potential confusion?</p>
  
  <p>I have added some visual aid for further clarity:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/dj8G5.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/dj8G5.png" alt="An example of a microservice that utilises various modules (Source: Author)"></a></p>
  
  <p>Please refute if you may, and also provide reliable references in relation to your experience with microservices and modules.</p>