ai-factory.architecture

To choose between a modular monolith and microservices, evaluate your project requirements, team size, and scalability needs. A modular monolith suits smaller teams needing simpler deployment, while microservices benefit complex, highly scalable systems requiring independent component scaling.

Clean Architecture is a software design pattern that enforces dependency rules by isolating business logic from external frameworks. It provides practical folder structures to ensure domain layers remain independent, resulting in systems that are easier to test, maintain, and modify over time.

Apply Domain-Driven Design (DDD) principles when building complex software requiring deep alignment between technical implementation and core business processes. DDD provides communication patterns and structural guidance to manage domain complexity by modeling software directly around business concepts.

Comparing monoliths, modular monoliths, and microservices involves trade-offs in deployment complexity, team autonomy, and scalability. Monoliths offer simple deployment, modular monoliths enforce logical boundaries within a single unit, and microservices provide independent scaling but introduce distributed communication overhead.

To structure a modular monolith architecture, establish clear folder boundaries that enforce strict dependency rules between internal modules. This approach isolates domain logic within specific modules while maintaining a single deployable unit, preventing unauthorized cross-module dependencies.

Software architecture selection heavily depends on team size and project complexity. Smaller teams benefit from monolithic or modular monolithic structures for easier collaboration, whereas larger teams handling complex domains require microservices to divide work into autonomous, independently deployable services.