Why Do We Love/Hate Waveguides

Waveguides are known for their efficiency. Commonly used in Radar, Automotive and Satellite Communication applications, waveguides seem like an obvious choice for achieving low losses and high gain.

But when it comes to space, cost and integration , waveguides start to lose their advantages. Microstrip line is notoriously lossy (especially on higher frequencies) but because of its effortless system integration, it remains the first choice for many engineers.