Application Architecture: Building Scalable Systems with C# and Azure

Application architecture defines how software components are structured and interact to meet functional and non-functional requirements. Key considerations include scalability, reliability, maintainability, and security. Modern architectures often embrace microservices, serverless, and event-driven patterns.

C# with ASP.NET Core is a cornerstone for building robust backend services. It excels in creating RESTful APIs, gRPC services, and message brokers. For microservices, C# allows for independent deployment units, while its strong typing and performance make it ideal for critical business logic.

MS SQL Server (or Azure SQL Database) serves as a reliable relational database for structured data. In a microservices architecture, each service might have its own dedicated database, or a shared database can be used with careful schema design. Considerations include data sharding, replication, and performance tuning for high-throughput applications.

Azure provides a comprehensive suite of services for implementing various architectural patterns. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for container orchestration, Azure Functions for serverless compute, Azure Service Bus for message queuing, and Azure API Management for API gateways are crucial for building scalable, resilient, and cloud-native applications.

Angular's opinionated structure and comprehensive framework make it suitable for large, complex enterprise frontends. Its modularity, dependency injection, and routing capabilities support building single-page applications (SPAs) that interact with backend APIs. It promotes a consistent architectural style across large teams.

React's flexibility and component-based approach allow for highly customizable frontend architectures. It's often chosen for dynamic dashboards, interactive user experiences, and integrating with diverse backend services. State management patterns (Context API, Redux, Zustand) are key to managing complex application states in React architectures.

Flutter enables a truly cross-platform architecture, building native mobile (and web/desktop) applications from a single codebase. It integrates seamlessly with C# backends via REST APIs. Architecturally, Flutter apps often follow patterns like BLoC or Provider for state management, ensuring a clean separation of concerns and maintainability across platforms.