Today I studied the real difference between Monolithic Architecture and Microservices Architecture by comparing the folder structure of the same “Ticketing App” in both approaches.
Github: https://github.com/samplemitu/ticketing-microservices
linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/mithukr-dev
🟥 Microservices Architecture — Many Small Independent Services
In a microservices system, each domain is a completely separate backend with its own:
codebase
routes
controllers
models
events (publishers & listeners)
database
Dockerfile
Kubernetes deployment
Example structure:
auth/
tickets/
orders/
payments/
expiration/
common/
infra/
đź’ˇ Each folder = one independent application.
This gives:
independent deployment
fault isolation
event-driven communication
better scaling per service
But it comes with complexity: distributed systems, messaging, NATS/Kafka, containers, orchestration, durable events, etc.
🟩 Monolithic Architecture — One Powerful, Organized Server
A monolithic backend keeps everything inside one application, using clean folder-based modular design:
src/
routes/
controllers/
services/
models/
middlewares/
utils/
Here:
all features run inside the same server
one deployment
one database
easy debugging
fastest to build
perfect for startup MVPs
It’s simple, fast, and still used by major companies at early scale.
I Am Building BOTH
To truly understand backend architecture, I am building:
a Microservices Ticketing System (Node, NATS, Docker, K8s)
a Monolithic Version of the same app (Node, Express, MongoDB)
This helps me learn:
distributed event-driven design
service communication patterns
when monolith is enough
when microservices add value
how real companies evolve their architecture
đź”— GitHub (Will keep updating daily)
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