Monolithic Architecture
Monolithic architecture is a traditional software design pattern where all components of an application are interconnected and interdependent, deployed as a single unit.
Advantages
- Simple to develop and deploy
- Easy to test end-to-end
- Lower initial development cost
- Straightforward debugging
- Better performance for small applications
Disadvantages
- Difficult to scale specific components
- Long deployment cycles
- Technology stack lock-in
- Reduced fault isolation
- Complex maintenance for large codebases
Use Cases
Small to medium applications, MVPs, simple CRUD applications, projects with limited team size.
Microservices Architecture
Microservices architecture decomposes an application into small, independent services that communicate over well-defined APIs. Each service is self-contained and focuses on a specific business capability.
Advantages
- Independent scaling of services
- Technology diversity and flexibility
- Faster deployment cycles
- Better fault isolation
- Easier to understand and maintain small services
Disadvantages
- Increased complexity in orchestration
- Network latency and reliability issues
- Distributed system challenges
- Higher operational overhead
- Complex testing and debugging
Use Cases
Large-scale applications, e-commerce platforms, Netflix, Amazon, Uber, applications requiring high scalability.
Event-Driven Architecture
Event-Driven Architecture (EDA) is a design pattern where system components communicate by producing and consuming events. Events represent state changes or significant occurrences in the system.
Advantages
- Loose coupling between components
- High scalability and responsiveness
- Real-time processing capabilities
- Flexible and extensible
- Asynchronous communication
Disadvantages
- Complex error handling and debugging
- Difficult to trace event flows
- Event ordering challenges
- Potential for event loss
- Steep learning curve
Use Cases
IoT systems, real-time analytics, stock trading platforms, notification systems, Apache Kafka implementations.
Layered Architecture
Layered (N-tier) architecture organizes the application into logical layers, each with specific responsibilities. Common layers include presentation, business logic, and data access layers.
Advantages
- Clear separation of concerns
- Easy to understand and maintain
- Testable layers independently
- Reusable components
- Well-established pattern
Disadvantages
- Performance overhead from layer transitions
- Can become monolithic
- Tight coupling between layers
- Difficult to scale individual layers
- May lead to unnecessary complexity
Use Cases
Traditional enterprise applications, web applications, desktop applications, systems with clear separation of UI, business logic, and data.
Serverless Architecture
Serverless architecture allows developers to build and run applications without managing infrastructure. Code runs in stateless compute containers that are event-triggered and fully managed by cloud providers.
Advantages
- No server management required
- Automatic scaling
- Pay-per-execution pricing
- Reduced operational costs
- Faster time to market
Disadvantages
- Cold start latency issues
- Vendor lock-in risks
- Limited execution duration
- Debugging and monitoring challenges
- Complex state management
Use Cases
AWS Lambda functions, Azure Functions, API backends, data processing pipelines, chatbots, scheduled tasks.