Less is More: Building a Modern Modular Monolith with Temporal and Go

Discover how we transformed a complex microservices architecture into a maintainable modular monolith using Golang and Temporal. Learn practical strategies for simplifying distributed systems while maintaining scalability and reliability. All from Venn’s two-year tech transformation journey.

Are you struggling with the complexity of maintaining multiple microservices? Drowning in a sea of AWS Lambdas, SNS topics, and SQS queues? You’re not alone. This talk chronicles Venn’s transformative journey from a distributed chaos of Node.js microservices to a well-structured modular monolith powered by Go and Temporal.

We’ll dive deep into: - The real challenges we faced with our microservices architecture: maintenance overhead, CI/CD complexity, backward compatibility and more - Why we chose the modular monolith pattern and how it helped us “architect for change” - The practical implementation of autonomous modules with their own DAL (Data Access Layer), BOL (Business Object Layer), and API layers - Shifting from choreography to orchestration - From SQS event triggered AWS Lambdas to a manageable Temporal workflow orchestrator pattern - Concrete examples of how loosely coupled interfaces enable modularity without the distributed systems complexity

You’ll walk away with: - Clear criteria for evaluating when microservices might be hurting more than helping - Practical patterns for implementing a modular monolith that maintains the benefits of separation while reducing operational complexity - Strategies for migrating from event-driven architectures to workflow orchestration using Temporal

Whether you’re considering a similar transformation or just starting to feel the pain of distributed systems complexity, this talk will provide you with practical insights and actionable strategies for modernizing your architecture.

As the Chief Architect at Venn, I led this architectural transformation over the past two years. I have extensive experience sharing technical knowledge through:

• An instructor for the IDF during my 3 year service with an additional year as an instructional designer.
• Weekly technical talks and architecture reviews within Venn
• Published articles on Medium (https://medium.com/@arthurvaverko) covering software architecture and development
• Previous conference speaking experience, including a recorded talk about .NET Core migration at Kaltura (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vESwMtYMfyw)

Technical requirements: - Standard presentation setup (projector, screen) - Will include live architecture diagrams and code examples - No special software needed - If possible I would like to present the topic with “Gaia Gonen” (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaia-gong-900b44100/) a Team Lead at Venn who did this journey with me together.

This talk aligns perfectly with the conference theme of “Modernizing the Monolith” as it demonstrates a practical approach to simplifying complex distributed systems while maintaining modularity and scalability. The integration of Temporal for workflow orchestration adds particular relevance for the conference audience.