Monolithic Architecture Definition

Monolithic architecture relates to a “monolith”, which is best described as something large, unified, and hard to connect with other smaller units. Monolithic architecture refers to software programs constructed as separate units. In other words, monolithic architecture is one big computing network, based on one code with functions tightly coupled into one large application.

This traditional model has some benefits, especially at the beginning of creating an application. When starting out, development and deployment are easier with unified code. What's more, some simple applications don’t need complicated models and connections. 

Microservices vs. monolithic architecture – which is better?

When the product complexity increases, monolithic architecture becomes a problem. Making a small change requires an update and testing on the whole platform, which is super time-consuming and difficult. There is another model that is far more scalable and flexible, which is called microservices. Microservices are separated, independent code bases, which can be managed one by one. It means that every change, update, and integration can be done on a selected piece of application, not touching the rest of it. It’s far much faster, transparent and good for overall performance.

Of course, there are challenges and difficulties in building microservices as well, and it’s not a solution for every application. One of the common problems is communication between applications and services if API gateways are set up incorrectly or have poor architecture.