What is a key difference between monolithic architecture and microservices architecture in software design?

In microservices architecture, an application is broken down into a set of smaller, independent services, each of which can be deployed, scaled, and managed individually. This architecture enables better scalability, flexibility, and maintainability. Different services can be developed in different programming languages or frameworks and can communicate with each other through APIs or message queues. Option A is incorrect because monolithic architecture does not break down applications into small independent services. Instead, the entire application is a single, unified unit. Option B is incorrect because microservices often require more overhead in terms of managing inter-service communication, orchestration, and data consistency. Option C is incorrect because monolithic applications do not scale horizontally as easily as microservices do, since changes to one part of the application require redeploying the whole system. Option E is incorrect because continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) can be more complex in monolithic architectures due to the tight coupling of components, whereas microservices support easier CI/CD due to their modular nature.