Two different philosophies for building systems with large capabilities.
Monolithic approach
- Build one giant system that does everything
- All functionality integrated inside the system
- Your data lives inside it
- Proprietary formats internal to the system
- No interchange format (or very limited - maybe an API, maybe export)
- User works entirely within the monolith
- Examples: Notion (tries to be notes + database + wiki + project management), Salesforce (giant integrated CRM), Adobe Creative Cloud (integrated suite with proprietary formats), 60s mainframe systems
Composable approach
- Build many small tools that each do one thing well
- Tools work together via standard interchange formats
- Your data lives in files that any tool can access
- Open formats (text, markdown, etc)
- Files/text streams are the universal interchange format
- User controls how tools compose
- Examples: Unix tools (grep, sed, awk, git), markdown files (write in any editor), Git, Obsidian (works with files on your filesystem)
The tradeoffs
Monolithic systems can be easier initially — everything is integrated, works together out of the box, consistent interface.
Composable systems require more initial setup but give you more control — you choose your tools and customize them, create your own workflows, own your data in open formats. Over time, arguably, the ceiling is higher.