Microservices are popular.
That doesn't mean every application needs them.
A common mistake is starting a project with ten services because "real companies use microservices."
What Is a Monolith?
A monolithic application keeps major functionality inside one deployable application.
For example:
Frontend
↓
Backend
├── Users
├── Products
├── Orders
└── Payments
↓
Database
This can be perfectly reasonable.
What Are Microservices?
With microservices, functionality is split into independently deployable services:
User Service
Product Service
Order Service
Payment Service
Notification Service
Each service can potentially have its own deployment lifecycle and data storage.
Why Microservices Are Attractive
They can provide:
- Independent deployments
- Team ownership boundaries
- Independent scaling
- Technology flexibility
- Fault isolation
But these benefits come with complexity.
The Hidden Cost
You now have to manage:
- Service discovery
- Network failures
- Authentication between services
- Distributed tracing
- Deployment pipelines
- Monitoring
- Data consistency
- Message queues
A function call:
createOrder();
can become:
HTTP request
→ network
→ authentication
→ service
→ database
→ response
Start Simple
A modular monolith can be an excellent middle ground.
Organize your code into clear modules:
users/
products/
orders/
payments/
If the system eventually needs service separation, those boundaries can provide a foundation.
Final Thoughts
Microservices solve organizational and scaling problems.
They also create operational problems.
For many projects, a well-designed monolith is not a failure.
It's the correct architecture.
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