Monolithic applications are single entities that contain all the application's different parts. These include APIs, services, databases, and load balancers. All elements mentioned above must be present to deploy monolithic programs as they are self-contained. These applications are the conventional method of creating software. Because every component is integrated into a single program, codebases for monolithic apps sometimes expand. Hence, it makes management and maintenance challenging. Let's discuss in detail what monolithic applications are.
What Is a Monolithic Architectural Style?
A monolithic application consists of only one component. Enterprise applications develop via three main parts:
- A database consists of several tables in a relational database management system.
- A browser-based client-side user interface made of HTML pages and JavaScript.
- A server-side application that manages HTTP requests. It carries out:
- Domain-specific logic.
- Updates data from the database.
- Populates HTML views provided to the browser and retrieves data from it.
Monolithic design is a logical executable that makes it different from other architecture. A developer needs to deploy an updated version of the server-side program before modifying the system.
What are the benefits of a Monolithic Architecture?
Monolithic architecture provides the following benefits:
- Simple to create and use
Monolithic apps are simpler to create. They all need one directory and have everything in one location. Deployment becomes easy due to the absence of several deployments and the presence of one file or directory.
- Simple to test and troubleshoot
Many component testing and debugging are complex. We can do end-to-end testing using a monolithic application. It makes fixing errors more straightforward.
How Do Monolithic Applications Work?
Monolithic applications are created to complete every action required to finish a specific activity. It covers every step, from getting user input to handling and archiving intricate data in a database. Consider a monolithic e-commerce platform as an illustration.
Users use the program to engage through browsers and mobile clients. The server or a load balancer receives the client's network traffic. We employ a load balancer if the application has to scale by running the monolith in numerous instances. In the first scenario, the program directly manages traffic. A load balancer manages and splits the workload across several application instances in the latter.
The application could include several services, such as payment, order, and catalog services. Since the functionality of these services determines how the business runs, the logic behind these services is the application's business logic.
The services take optimal actions to ensure the data is saved in the database. These persist once data has been received from the user via the data access layer. Thanks to the data access layer, the business layer is independent of the database's implementation specifics. Will you choose a relational or non-relational database? It entirely depends on the application's needs. While a relational database is preferred for e-commerce apps.
What are the Positive Aspects of a Monolithic Architecture?
Organizations can profit from a monolithic or microservices design depending on various variables. The main benefit of monolithic architecture development is fast development speed since it is straightforward to have an application with a single code base.
The benefits of a monolithic design are as follows:
- Simple deployment - It only requires one executable file or directory.
- Development - Building an application with a single code base is simpler.
- Performance - In a centralized code base and repository, one API carries out a task requiring several microservices APIs.
- End-to-end testing - Monolithic application is a single centralized unit. Hence, this testing can be carried out more quickly with a monolithic application than a distributed one.
- Debugging - It is simple since all the code is in one place, making it quick to follow instructions and identify problems.
What are the Potential Drawbacks of a Monolithic Architecture?
Monolithic applications, like Netflix, can be beneficial until they get too big and scaling becomes difficult. The agile methodology that today's developers prefer needs compiling and testing the entire platform to make a modest change in a single function.
A monolith has several drawbacks, including:
- Slower development speed - Large, monolithic applications are more complex and take longer to build.
- Scalability - Scaling of individual components is not possible.
- Reliability - Any module issue will impact the availability of the entire application.
- Technology adoption barrier - Any framework or programming language changes impact the entire application and hamper technology adoption. It makes adjustments costly and time-consuming.
- Lack of flexibility - The technologies already used in a monolith control it is functioning.
- Deployment - Redeploying the whole monolith is necessary for minor monolith application changes.
Monolithic Application-Specific FAQs
Q 1: What are Monolithic Applications?
These applications have all their services and function tightly bound into one large entity. Although monolithic design sometimes lacks flexibility and scalability, it offers several benefits, including quick development and deployment.
Q 2: How Can Monolithic Applications Be Updated?
Although microservices are replacing monolithic architectures, they still have a role. Microservices architectures cut the dependence of services on each other.
Who should choose Monolithic Deployments?
Monolithic applications are a common choice for many firms. They provide a variety of advantages. Faster deployment and less complexity become possible by its ease of development. A unified codebase makes maintenance and troubleshooting more accessible. Hence, it improves stability and lowers costs. Monolithic programs use hardware resources, which results in higher performance and scalability. Because of their centralized architecture, they also provide improved security. Monolithic apps are significant for smaller projects or those with limited resources. However, the decision between architectures depends on the requirements and objectives of businesses.
