So, you have decided to create a high-load IT solution for your business. The development of a complex product, like the construction of a multi-story building, begins with planning. In this article, we will analyze what development methodologies are, how they differ, and how a business owner chooses an application architecture.

Microservices or Monolith. Which Architecture to Choose When Developing a Complex Application for a Large Business?

Remaining monolithic in today’s world, it is difficult to change along with the needs of a capricious market. This is why creating software as microservices is gaining popularity as opposed to a monolithic approach. So whether you’re a developer or a business owner, have your own app, or are just planning to build one, we invite you to learn more about microservices and their benefits.

A monolithic architecture is easy to develop, test, and deploy. Once deployed, you simply customize it to meet your current requirements. Because everything runs in a single application, cross-cutting logging, data processing, caching, and security issues are easily resolved as memory, disk space, and other resources are shared among different components.

Microservice architecture is an architecture development technique that allows you to create applications as a set of small autonomous services for working with specific subject areas. This kind of structured architecture allows applications to be organized into many loosely coupled services.The microservice architecture contains fine-grained services and simplified protocols.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Monolithic and Microservices Architectures

Quite often, monolithic applications are difficult to scale to handle heavy traffic. They often require additional software, such as application servers or databases. Such applications may consist of five or ten million lines of code that run additional software. However, after conducting a comparative analysis among the largest companies and associations, it can be seen that architecture is already moving into the section of risk management tools that arise when interacting with third parties (clients, counterparties, outsourcing companies, etc.), whether it is fraud or disruption deals.

There are two approaches to modern IT product development: monolithic architecture and microservices. In addition, there is a hybrid architecture – this is an intermediate option at the junction of the above two approaches. Each approach has its pros, cons, features, and supporters and opponents. An important point for the formation of architecture in this market is, according to experts, taking into account the specifics of the life cycle of services. The life cycle of a service is a critical factor when considering the dynamics of its competitive stay in the market. In other words, the period of time during which the service has viability in the market is considered its life cycle.

A monolithic application is a single common unit, while a microservice architecture is a collection of small, independently deployable services. Which option is better to choose, monolithic vs microservices architecture? It depends on a number of factors:

• The big advantage of a monolithic architecture is that it is easier to implement.
• Monolithic services tend to be reborn from their pure state into a so-called “big ball of dirt.” Briefly, this is described as a condition that occurred because the architectural rules were broken, and the components grew together over time.
• There is practically no insulation in a monolithic architecture.

The main task for the business owner is to find a solution that could be implemented in a short time, and that would solve the client’s business problems. Although the microservices architecture can be seen as a complex solution, it turned out to be much simpler in terms of potential support and scalability.