Microservices vs Monolith: Choosing the Right Architecture

In the world of system design, "Microservices" has been the buzzword for a decade. But is it always the right choice? Recently, we've seen a resurgence of the "Majestic Monolith". Let's explore why.

The Hidden Cost of Microservices

Microservices offer independent scaling and deployment, but they introduce massive complexity. You are no longer just calling a function; you are making a network request. This means dealing with latency, failure modes, distributed tracing, and eventual consistency.

When to Stick with a Monolith

• Early Stage Startups: Speed of iteration is key. A monolith allows you to refactor easily without coordinating across multiple repositories.
• Small Teams: The operational overhead of managing Kubernetes clusters and service meshes can drown a small team.
• Tight Coupling: If your domain models are deeply intertwined, splitting them will only create a distributed monolith, which is the worst of both worlds.

When to Switch

Microservices shine when you have multiple teams needing to deploy independently, or when different components have vastly different resource requirements (e.g., a video processing worker vs. a lightweight API).