A monolithic application is architected as a single, self-contained, and unified unit. The term "monolithic" is derived from "mono" (single) and "lithos" (stone), implying a single, large block. In this architecture, all functionalities, such as the user interface, business logic, and data access layer, are tightly coupled and run within a single process. This design is aptly described as a "mono-block functional service," where the entire application is developed, deployed, and scaled as one cohesive piece.

A. Monolithic applications are smaller in size than cloud native applications.

This is incorrect. Monolithic applications often grow very large and complex over time, making them difficult to manage, whereas cloud-native applications are composed of smaller, independent microservices.

B. Monolithic applications are more reliable than microservices.

This is generally false. A failure in one component of a monolith can bring down the entire application, creating a single point of failure. Microservices can be designed for higher resilience.

D. Monolithic applications involve the most complex management strategy.

This is incorrect. While managing a large monolith is challenging, the operational complexity of managing a distributed microservices architecture (e.g., service discovery, networking, monitoring) is typically far greater.

1. Fowler, M. (2014). Monolithic Architecture. martinfowler.com. Retrieved from https://martinfowler.com/bliki/MonolithicArchitecture.html.

Reference Point: In the first paragraph, Fowler describes a monolithic application as one built as a "single unit," where "the alternative is to build the application from a set of services," directly supporting the "mono-block" concept.

2. Dragoni, N., Giallorenzo, S., Lafuente, A. L., Mazzara, M., Montesi, F., Mustafin, R., & Safina, L. (2017). Microservices: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. In P. Avgeriou, M. A. M. de Oca, & J. L. C. Izquierdo (Eds.), Present and Ulterior Software Engineering (pp. 195-216). Springer.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67425-412

Reference Point: Section 2, "The Monolithic Style," page 196, states: "The monolithic style is the traditional way to build applications. An application is monolithic if all of its functionalities are implemented within a single process." This validates the concept of a single, functional block.

3. Nokia White Paper. (2020). Cloud native comes of age in the 5G era.

Reference Point: While specific page numbers vary by version, documents of this nature consistently describe the evolution from legacy, monolithic network functions (like the traditional Evolved Packet Core) to the service-based, disaggregated architecture of the 5G Core. Section "From monolithic to microservices" (or similar) typically defines monolithic systems as large, single-block applications that are difficult to scale and update, contrasting them with the modularity of microservices. This context reinforces that a monolith is a single functional block.