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Module 1: Why Traditional Angular Applications Don't Scale
Chapter 1 • Intermediate
30 min
Why Traditional Angular Applications Don't Scale
As Angular applications grow, teams face:
- Frequent merge conflicts - Multiple developers working on the same codebase
- Tight coupling between features - Changes in one area break others
- Risky full-app deployments - One bug can break the entire application
- Slow development velocity - Teams block each other's progress
A single frontend codebase works well for small teams.
At scale, it becomes a bottleneck.
This module explains why architecture becomes a business problem, not just a technical one.
The Scaling Problem
Small Team (1-3 developers)
- ✅ Single codebase is manageable
- ✅ Quick feature delivery
- ✅ Easy to coordinate
- ✅ Simple deployment process
Large Team (10+ developers)
- ❌ Merge conflicts daily
- ❌ Feature dependencies create bottlenecks
- ❌ Testing becomes expensive
- ❌ Deployment risk increases exponentially
Real-World Scenarios
Scenario 1: Merge Conflicts
code
Developer A: Working on checkout feature
Developer B: Working on product catalog
Developer C: Working on user profile
All three modify shared components → Daily merge conflicts
Scenario 2: Deployment Risk
code
Bug in checkout feature → Entire application down
All teams blocked → No one can deploy
Scenario 3: Team Dependencies
code
Team A needs feature from Team B
Team B is blocked by Team C
Team C is waiting for Team A
→ Circular dependency deadlock
Why This Happens
1. Shared Codebase
- All teams work in the same repository
- Changes affect everyone
- No isolation between features
2. Shared Dependencies
- Angular core libraries shared
- Third-party libraries shared
- Version conflicts inevitable
3. Monolithic Deployment
- One build for entire application
- One deployment pipeline
- All-or-nothing releases
The Business Impact
Development Velocity
- Small team: 10 features per month
- Large team: 5 features per month (despite more developers)
Deployment Frequency
- Small team: Daily deployments
- Large team: Weekly deployments (too risky for daily)
Bug Impact
- Small team: Bug affects one feature
- Large team: Bug can affect entire application
When Architecture Matters
Architecture is not about code quality.
It's about team productivity and business agility.
At scale:
- Architecture = Team autonomy
- Architecture = Deployment safety
- Architecture = Development velocity
What's Next?
Traditional Angular applications work well until they don't.
The next module explains how Micro Frontends solve these problems.