What is a monolithic program?

Answer 1

Monolithic Programming indicates the program which contain a single function for the large program. It is always fight with modular programming to placed the identity in programming world. Modular programming help the programmer to divide the whole program into different modules and each module is separately developed and tested. Then the linker will link all these modules to form the complete program. On the other hand monolithic programming will not divide the program and it is a single thread of execution. When the program size increases it leads inconvenience and difficult to maintain. Disadvantages of monolithic programming: 1. Difficult to check error on large programs. 2. Difficult to maintain. 3. Code can be specific to a particular problem. i.e. it can not be reused. Advantage of modular programming: 1. Modular program are easier to code and debug. 2. Reduces the programming size. 3. Code can be reused in other programs. 4. Problem can be isolated to specific module so easier to find the error and correct it. Answer posted by: Md. Kahinur Islam Faculty BASE Ltd.

Answer 2

Monolithic solutions are putting as many features as possible in one big application or suite of applications. It is the opposite of "best of breed". Monolithic approaches to software development tend to come from very large corporations because it requires complex development teams with project managers, coders, testers, business analysts, etc. The monolithic applications are usually sold to customers with lots of money in their budget for software. Monolithic development is rarely open in its architecture because it does not intend to integrate with outside applications except in specific instances such as commerce data exchange. The APIs in monolithic development are not conducive to replace entire modules in one implementation with a better module written by another company. CIOs and CTOs of Fortune 1000 corporations may feel it is safer to buy a monolithic solution because it is backed by one company; therefore, the risk of having integration problems is lessened. It does NOT however, guarantee fewer bugs or higher quality software. In fact, many IT departments have failed in monolithic projects due to the technical complications of too many configuration files with so many options that the permutations are impossible to fully understand. This leads to significant dollars being invested from the professional services division of the monolithic solution vendor. It isn't all bad, but beware of the drawbacks.