Level Up Your Architecture Game with Monolithic Modular - It's Not What You Think

Ever had that moment where your codebase feels like a teenager's room - technically organized but somehow still a mess? That was me six months ago. That's when i came across a thing called as Monolithic Modular Architecture. Despite its boring name, this approach changed everything. You might be thinking "Oh great, another architecture article..." but I promise you this isn't about preaching the "one true way.". Instead, I want to share how this approach helped me sleep better, and actually enjoy working with our codebase again. What's Monolithic Modular architecture? Imagine you're building a house. Traditional monoliths are like having one giant room where everything happens (cooking, sleeping, working - chaos!). On the flip side, microservices are like having separate tiny houses for each activity. Monolithic Modular? It's like having one house (easier to maintain and secure) but with well-defined rooms that each serve their purpose (kitchen for cooking, bedroom for sleeping - you get the idea). Each "room" (module) has its own rules and purpose, but they're all under one roof. In code terms, it looks like this: The secret sauce? Each module: Has its own clear boundary (like walls in our house) Manages its own specific business logic Can talk to other modules through well-defined doorways (interfaces) Shares some common utilities (like how all rooms share the same plumbing) But here's the best part - at the end of the day, you deploy everything together as one unit. No need to orchestrate multiple services or worry about complex network communication. It's modular where it matters (in your code) and monolithic where it helps (in deployment and operation). Real Project Structure in Action

Jan 15, 2025 - 08:27
Level Up Your Architecture Game with Monolithic Modular - It's Not What You Think

Ever had that moment where your codebase feels like a teenager's room - technically organized but somehow still a mess? That was me six months ago. That's when i came across a thing called as Monolithic Modular Architecture. Despite its boring name, this approach changed everything.

You might be thinking "Oh great, another architecture article..." but I promise you this isn't about preaching the "one true way.". Instead, I want to share how this approach helped me sleep better, and actually enjoy working with our codebase again.

What's Monolithic Modular architecture?

Imagine you're building a house. Traditional monoliths are like having one giant room where everything happens (cooking, sleeping, working - chaos!). On the flip side, microservices are like having separate tiny houses for each activity.

Monolithic Modular?
It's like having one house (easier to maintain and secure) but with well-defined rooms that each serve their purpose (kitchen for cooking, bedroom for sleeping - you get the idea). Each "room" (module) has its own rules and purpose, but they're all under one roof.

In code terms, it looks like this:

Basic example of MMA

The secret sauce? Each module:

  • Has its own clear boundary (like walls in our house)
  • Manages its own specific business logic
  • Can talk to other modules through well-defined doorways (interfaces)
  • Shares some common utilities (like how all rooms share the same plumbing)

But here's the best part - at the end of the day, you deploy everything together as one unit. No need to orchestrate multiple services or worry about complex network communication. It's modular where it matters (in your code) and monolithic where it helps (in deployment and operation).

Real Project Structure in Action