Monolithic Architecture

A software development model where an application is built as a single and indivisible unit.

A monolithic architecture is a software design approach where an entire application is built and deployed as a single, self-contained unit. All components -- the user interface, business logic, and data access layer -- are tightly coupled within one codebase and run as a single process.

Monolithic architectures are simpler to develop, test, and deploy initially, since there is only one artifact to build and one service to manage. However, as applications grow, monoliths become harder to maintain, scale, and update. A change to one component requires redeploying the entire application, and scaling requires replicating the whole system even if only one part needs additional capacity.

Many organizations migrate from monolithic to microservices architectures over time, a process sometimes called "strangling the monolith." An API gateway facilitates this transition by routing requests to either the monolith or new microservices based on the endpoint path. This allows gradual extraction of functionality from the monolith without disrupting existing clients or requiring a complete rewrite.