[The Majestic Monolith](https://m.signalvnoise.com/the-majestic-monolith/) is a term coined by David Heinemeier Hansson, Chief technology officer of Basecamp and the creator of Ruby on Rails, in an article published in 2016 by the same name. The text discusses two types of software design patterns: those focused on code structure and those centered on how code is developed within an organization. It critiques the trend of small teams adopting Microservices Oriented Architecture (M/SOA), a pattern suitable for large organizations like Amazon or Google with thousands of developers. M/SOA allows large teams to work independently on different services, facilitating coordination at scale. However, the author argues that small teams often mistakenly adopt M/SOA, leading to unnecessary complexity, increased failure points, and added overhead due to distributed computing. Instead, the text advocates for the "Majestic Monolith" approach—an integrated system that minimizes unnecessary abstractions and avoids distributing the system unless absolutely necessary. Using Basecamp as a case study, the author explains how a small team of about 12 programmers successfully manages a large application with hundreds of features across multiple platforms by embracing the monolithic architecture. This approach enables the team to maintain a deep understanding of the entire system, write cleaner code, and reduce coordination challenges. In conclusion, the text advises small teams to embrace the monolithic architecture intentionally, making it "majestic" by focusing on simplicity, understandability, and cohesive design, rather than prematurely adopting complex patterns suited for much larger organizations. David says, "Integrate your systems until it’s impossible for one person to hold it all in their head."