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Microservices vs Monolith vs Serverless

1. Monolith Architecture​

Definition: A monolithic application is a single, unified codebase that handles the entire frontend and backend.

✅ Pros​

  • Simple to develop and deploy.
  • Easier to debug and test.
  • Single codebase for consistency.
  • No inter-service communication overhead.

❌ Cons​

  • Hard to scale individual components.
  • Large codebase becomes difficult to manage.
  • Deployment requires the entire system to be updated.
  • Tech stack limitations (harder to mix multiple frameworks).

2. Microservices Architecture​

Definition: A system divided into small, independent services communicating over APIs.

✅ Pros​

  • Independent scaling of services.
  • Different teams can work on different services.
  • Better fault isolation (one service failure doesn’t bring down the entire system).
  • Can use different technologies per service.

❌ Cons​

  • More complex infrastructure.
  • Higher latency due to inter-service communication.
  • Managing API versioning and service discovery can be challenging.
  • Requires DevOps expertise for orchestration.

3. Serverless Architecture​

Definition: Functions run in a managed cloud environment, executing only when needed.

✅ Pros​

  • No server management.
  • Auto-scaling and cost-efficient (pay only for execution time).
  • Quick deployment and lower operational overhead.
  • Suitable for event-driven architectures.

❌ Cons​

  • Cold start latency.
  • Limited execution time per function (e.g., AWS Lambda 15 minutes max).
  • Debugging and local development can be tricky.
  • Vendor lock-in risk.

4. Microfrontends​

Definition: Breaking down a frontend monolith into smaller, independently deployable frontend applications.

✅ Pros​

  • Allows multiple teams to develop different UI parts independently.
  • Tech stack flexibility (React, Vue, Angular, etc.).
  • Incremental upgrades without affecting the whole app.
  • Faster development cycles.

❌ Cons​

  • Increased complexity in managing different builds.
  • Performance overhead due to multiple frameworks in a single app.
  • Requires consistent design patterns across microfrontends.
  • Cross-team coordination is essential.

When to Choose What?

  • Monolith → Best for small projects, MVPs, and when simplicity is needed.
  • Microservices → Suitable for large-scale applications with independent teams.
  • Serverless → Ideal for event-driven, pay-per-use scenarios, and quick deployments.
  • Microfrontends → Best for large frontend applications with multiple teams working independently.

Conclusion​

Each architecture has its strengths and weaknesses. The choice depends on scalability needs, team structure, deployment strategies, and cost considerations.