designing-architecture

Monolithic and microservices architectures serve different scales and team structures. Monoliths suit smaller teams and tightly-coupled domains; microservices enable independent deployment and scaling but add operational complexity. Use the decision framework to evaluate simplicity, scalability, and maintainability trade-offs for your system size and growth projections.

Layered, Clean, Hexagonal, Event-Driven, and CQRS patterns each optimize for different quality attributes. Layered architecture emphasizes simplicity; Clean and Hexagonal isolate business logic; Event-Driven handles asynchronous workflows; CQRS separates read and write models. The Skill outlines decision criteria for each pattern based on your system requirements.

Directory structure depends on project size and complexity. The Skill suggests layouts for small, medium, and large projects with module organization strategies that support maintainability and team collaboration. Proper structure prevents bottlenecks as codebases grow and teams expand.

Architecture patterns balance competing concerns: simplicity versus scalability, maintenance overhead versus deployment flexibility, and team coordination costs. The decision framework analyzes trade-offs across these dimensions so you can prioritize what matters most for your constraints and goals.

Yes, modular monoliths combine monolithic deployment with internal module boundaries, deferring microservices migration. This approach suits teams needing scalability and maintainability without full distributed-system complexity. The Skill helps evaluate whether this fits your team size, application domain, and growth timeline.