Some time ago, my boss gave me a vision.

Not a specification. Not an architecture. Just a simple idea:

“What if we could make backend code modular and hyper-reusable?”

He didn’t mean this in a strict engineering sense. It was more of a direction a way of thinking.

But that idea stayed with me.

The Usual Paths And Why I Didn’t Like Them

When most people are asked to make backend systems “modular” or “reusable,” they usually end up choosing one of these paths:

  • Build a common library of utilities and helpers
  • Create reusable snippets and copy them across projects
  • Some variation of the above, with better structure

And honestly, all of these work. But they all share the same underlying problem:

We’re still copying code.

Even when it’s packaged nicely. Even when it’s imported cleanly. Even when it’s well documented.

For senior developers, this is usually fine. But for broader teams and especially across many projects it starts to break down.

The Snippet Problem That Kept Bugging Me

One question kept coming back to me:

How do you update all of this later?

You improve a snippet. You add a feature. You fix a bug.

Now what?

  • Old projects are still running old versions
  • Updates don’t propagate naturally
  • Consistency slowly erodes
  • Maintenance cost increases silently

Not immediately but over time, across projects.

That didn’t feel right to me.

The Thought That Changed Everything

What really resonated with me was this idea:

What if backend modules could be plug-and-play like LEGO bricks?

Not libraries you import and wire manually. Not snippets you copy and adapt.

But actual modules that:

  • can be assembled easily
  • are friendly even to non-expert users
  • don’t require deep understanding of internals
  • can be reused without rewriting

If something is truly hyper-modular, then anyone should be able to assemble it not just the most senior engineer in the room.

That usability aspect mattered to me a lot.

The Vision Kept Expanding

Once that thought settled in, I started pushing it further.

What if such a system could:

  • be assembled easily even by someone non-technical
  • connect to any number of modules without friction
  • run inside Docker
  • run on Kubernetes
  • work as a microservice or a monolith
  • remain fast, stable, and production-ready
  • not waste resources
  • and still be customizable

And that last point mattered the most.

Customization Without Breaking Everything

Most projects won’t share the same business logic. That’s normal.

But that doesn’t mean:

  • the entire core needs to change
  • the whole system must be rewritten
  • or every project becomes a snowflake

I wanted a system where:

  • only what needs to be customized is customized
  • everything else stays reusable and consistent

If you customize everything, you lose reusability. If you customize nothing, you lose flexibility.

Finding that balance became part of the challenge.

Falling Into the Rabbit Hole (On Purpose)

I knew from the beginning that:

  • the learning curve would be high
  • the system would be complex
  • the thinking required would be deep

But this wasn’t about efficiency at first.

It was about curiosity.

I wanted to see:

  • how far this idea could go
  • what would break first
  • what assumptions I’d be forced to question

The modular system slowly started consuming my thinking and I was okay with that.

This Is Where I’m At Today

I’ve progressed a lot since then.

  • I’ve built POCs
  • I’ve tested ideas
  • I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t

But the system is huge. The thinking behind it is huge.

That’s why I decided to start writing about it.

This Is the First Post of a Series

This blog is not a tutorial. It’s not documentation. It’s not a framework announcement.

It’s the beginning of a journey.

I’ll keep posting more covering different parts of the thinking, the problems, the trade-offs, and the lessons along the way.

Because modular systems are not small problems. And pretending they are does them a disservice.

An Open-Ended Question for You

If you were tasked today with building a backend system that:

  • is modular
  • is hyper-reusable
  • is easy to assemble
  • scales across projects
  • stays production-ready
  • and doesn’t require rewriting everything

How would you imagine it?

Not necessarily how you’d implement it but how you’d think about it.

I’d genuinely love to hear your perspective.

You can write to me at hello@jainilchaudhari.in.

And if this topic interests you, feel free to follow along because this is only the first post in a long series.

Thank you for reading.