Meaning
A software architecture where all functional components, business logic, and database operations are unified into a single codebase and deployment unit.
Three examples from work
Tech debate
LeadFor an early-stage startup, building a modular monolith is much faster than running twenty microservices.
CTOAgreed, it simplifies debugging, local development, and end-to-end testing.
Scaling challenge
DevDeploying the monolith takes twenty-five minutes because the entire test suite must run.
LeadWe can parallelize our CI runners to cut build time down to five minutes.
Refactoring plan
ArchitectWe are carving out the video encoding module from the main monolith.
DevThat prevents CPU-heavy encoding from slowing down core API endpoints.
Pronounce 'MON-o-lith'. Modern engineering often prefers a clean 'modular monolith' over fragmented microservice architectures.