Monolith

Monolith (or monolithic architecture) is software where most features live in a single application: one codebase, one deploy, one process that talks to the database. Cart, catalog, login, and admin often share the same app.

It is not a dirty word. For many small businesses and early products, a tidy monolith is faster to build, easier to debug, and cheaper to run than a fleet of services. You scale by adding more copies of the same app. Teams often split into microservices later — only when a hot path or team boundary needs independence.

A real-life example of a monolith

A local shop’s e-commerce site runs on one WordPress + WooCommerce install: products, checkout, and blog share the same backend. That is a monolith. It ships as one piece; when traffic grows, you improve caching, hosting, and queries before you carve the system apart.

Start simple; split when data proves you need it. Practical scaling advice is in Scale Without Tears.