What are your strategies for designing scalable and maintainable web applications?

There's no one-size-fits-all answer here; it's all about trade-offs. Think about what you value more—consistency or availability? Understand the problems you aim to solve. Basic principles like modularity and documented interfaces are crucial, but specifics like microservices or using JWTs will depend on your situation. I recommend the book 'Software Architecture: The Hard Parts' for a detailed look at architecture patterns and their implications for different scenarios. Most startups find that a modular monolith works best, but larger enterprises often need to adapt to prevent scaling challenges.

Choosing between modular and monolithic designs isn't as clear-cut as it seems. Modular monoliths can provide a good balance. For managing dependencies and maintaining quality as your project scales, I recommend sticking to KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid), using Test Driven Development (TDD), and adopting Domain Driven Design principles.

A solid approach to structuring your application is to ensure separation of concerns and create well-defined interfaces. Mixing UI, data, and network code can lead to maintenance headaches later on. It's useful to build a robust core "framework" that includes essential global types, base routing, and other functionality. This acts as a glue for additional features and keeps third-party code isolated. Instead of spreading things thin, centralizing your architecture can give you better control over data flow and processes.

Don't forget about infrastructure when discussing maintainability and scalability. Whether automatically scaling with services like Vercel or Netlify, or managing it yourself, your backend needs to handle user growth effectively.

If you're looking for solid implementation ideas, check out this resource: https://reactmvvm.org/. It offers some insightful strategies for scalability and maintainability in frontend development.