[pjmlp]

Monoliths don't have to be deployed as single instance.

In any case, too many rush for micro-services with the intent reason to use the network as a package boundary.

Have you ever tried to debug spaghetti RPC calls across the network?

I sadly have.

[galangalalgol]

Adding to the theme of microservices overhead, I feel like the amount of almost-boilerplate code used to get and set the contents of serialized data in the service interfaces exceeds the code used to actually do useful work even in medium sized services, much less microservices.

[jameshart]

It is possible that there are architectures other than ‘monolith’ and ‘microservices’. Component architectures are also a thing. If it doesn’t all deploy in one go, I don’t think it’s a monolith.

[pjmlp]

Certainly, the microservices cargo cult has ensured that everything that isn't a microservices, is now a monolith.

[jameshart]

And apparently distributed RPC is ‘microservices’.

I think we can all agree that straw man architectures don’t work. Everyone should employ the true Scotsman architecture.

[pjmlp]

It is how a large majority of microservices gets implemented in practice.

What was originally a package, gets its own process and REST endpoint, sorry nowadays it should be gRPC, the network boilerplate gets wrapped in nice function calls, and gets used everywhere just like the original monolith code.

Just like almost no one does REST as it was originality intended, most microservices end up reflecting the monolith with an additional layer of unwanted complexity.

[jameshart]

Okay, but if you’re allowed to submit ‘well structured modular componentized librarified monolith’ as an example proving how monoliths aren’t all bad, I’m not going to let you insist on holding up ‘cargo cult grpc mess’ as proof that microservices are terrible. Let’s compare the best both structures have to offer, or consider the worst both enable - but not just compare caricatures.

[pjmlp]

On the contrary, as the sales speech at conferences is that the mess only happens with monoliths and the only possible salvation is to rewrite the world as microservices.

Good programming practices to refactor monoliths never get touched upon, as otherwise the sale would lose its appeal.

[geodel]

LOL. This is excellent point. At my workplace one might just get fired if they talk anything other than microsevice for any new development.

[blntechie]

An interview for me turned from going well to disaster because of a single mention I made that I was not a fan of seeing every single project with the microservice lens. That kind of rustled the interviewees who strongly believed that anything not written as microservice today is not worth building. I thought that was a pretty inoffensive and practical statement I could support with points but who knew that would derail the entire interview.

[btilly]

Why yes, I have.

It is essentially impossible without the (sadly rare) design pattern that I gave at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26016854.

[marshmellman]

You might be interested in OpenTracing/OpenTelemetry, in case you’re not aware of it: https://opentracing.io/

[btilly]

I wasn't.

If I am ever unfortunate enough to work on a microservices architecture again, I'll see if I can get it used.