Monolith, modular monolith or microservices
When the team proposes moving to microservices, a PM should be able to ask what the split really brings to the product. The lesson compares monolith, modular monolith and microservices in terms of deployment, operations and team structure, so you can judge a proposal against the problem it claims to solve.
Lesson objective
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to tell a monolith, a modular monolith and microservices apart, explain what each style costs and brings (deployment, coupling, operations, team organization), and judge whether a split addresses the problem at hand.
Topics covered
- monolith vs microservices
- modular monolith
- Conway's law
- service decomposition
In the glossary
Where it fits
Structuring the system
Should the system be split up, and when should you wait for a response rather than process later?
Lessons in this module
- Monolith, modular monolith or microservices (this lesson)
- Wait or process later, synchronous and asynchronous
What you will learn in this module
This lesson is part of the course Read and challenge a technical architecture
- Compare monolith, modular monolith and microservices, then synchronous calls and asynchronous processing, based on the team, the load and the consequences for the user.
Related courses
- Product ManagementAdvancedRegular practice: you already use the tools or work on this topic.
Git for PMs: ship as a team without putting production at risk
3 hr 30 min
- Tech for PMsAll levelsNo prerequisites: accessible to everyone.
Explain how a web product works, from browser to server
2 hr 30 min
- Tech for PMsJuniorSome basics are useful: introductory knowledge of the topic.
Design and test an API integration as a PM
3 hr