Microservice architecture vs Monolithic architecture

Microservices architecture is a set of smaller, individually deployable services, while a monolithic program is developed as a coherent one. Read below to know more about them in detail. 

What is Monolithic Architecture 

A software program with a monolithic architecture is designed to function as a single entity, separate from all other programs. The concept of a monolith in software design is not unlike the common association of the word “monolith” with something massive and slow-moving. 

The term “monolithic architecture” refers to a unified, large-scale computing network that shares a single code base and serves to connect many aspects of an enterprise. Modifying such an application necessitates going all the way back to the source code and then constructing and releasing a new service-side interface. That makes it difficult and time-consuming to implement changes.

At the beginning of a project, monoliths can be helpful due to their simplified code management, low mental load, and speedy deployment. This enables the simultaneous release of all contents of the monolith.

Advantages of Monolithic Applications 

Whether a business is better served by a monolithic or microservices design depends on a variety of factors. The key benefit of the monolithic architecture is rapid application development due to the reduced complexity that comes from working with a single code base.

• Compared to microservices, which need professional engineers to discover and create the services, this method of development is very straightforward.
• deployment is simplified because only one jar/war file needs to be shipped.
• When compared to the complexity of developing a microservices architecture, this approach is far simpler and easier.
• Developers can avoid having to become proficient in multiple programs and instead focus on only one.

Disadvantages of Monolithic Applications 

However, when monolithic applications reach a certain size, they become difficult to scale. Unlike the agile methodology that is so popular among modern engineers, making even a little change in a single function necessitates compiling and testing the entire platform.

• It grows to be excessively big and unmanageable over time.
• You need to redeploy the full application, even for a tiny modification.
• Deployment and startup times for software grow proportionally with its size.
• Even if a new developer’s role is limited to a particular feature, he will have a hard time grasping the big picture of a Monolithic app.
• Even if a single section of the program is encountering a heavy load/traffic, you need to deploy the instances of the full application on different servers. It wastes a lot of time and energy and makes more problems than it solves. Thus, in monolithic programs, horizontal scaling is not possible.
• Adopting a new technology that is optimal for a certain function is challenging since it impacts the overall application in terms of time and money.

What are microservices?

Microservices architecture, or microservices for short, is a style of architecture built on the concept of decomposing a larger system into smaller, self-contained components that may be deployed independently of one another. 

These services each have their own unique set of business rules and data. Each service is responsible for its own testing, deployment, scalability, and update processes. Important business and domain-specific issues are separated into their own code bases using microservice architecture. Microservices don’t remove complexity, but they do make it visible and approachable by breaking down large, interdependent activities into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Advantages of microservices?

• Being of a manageable size, it presents few challenges.
• Any changes made to a single microservice necessitate redeployment of only that service.
• Since they contain no dependencies, microservices can be released separately. They require less time to initiate and deploy than other options.
• A new developer can go right in without having to study the entire system; instead, he needs to learn only the specific microservice that is responsible for delivering the feature he will be responsible for.
• Users may overuse a certain feature of a microservice, requiring us to scale only that microservice out in order to handle the increased demand. Therefore, horizontal scalability is supported by the microservices design.
• Depending on the needs of the business, each microservice may employ a unique set of technologies.
• For example, if a single microservice has an outage because of a problem, this won’t affect the other microservices or the rest of the system, which will keep functioning normally and deliver the rest of the system’s functionality to the users as usual.

Disadvantages of Microservices

• A distributed system’s inherent complexity makes it more difficult to use than centralized software. The more microservices there are, the more complicated it becomes.
• Only experienced programmers should handle the complexities of a microservices design, which requires them to be able to single out individual microservices and control the flow of information between them.
• The process of deploying microservices independently is difficult.
• The network costs associated with microservices are high because they must communicate with one another, and this communication occurs across remote connections, which introduces latency into the system.
• As a result of their networked intercommunication, microservices pose a greater security risk than monolithic apps.
• Control is spread across numerous microservices, making it impossible to isolate the source of a mistake and isolate the code that caused it during debugging.