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Principles for clear and consistent architecture

Main principles

  1. All architecture artifacts must have a clear responsibility
    1. Investigate artifacts that have more than 1 responsibility. Divide and conquer.
    2. Artifacts that has no clear responsibility must be removed
  2. Ensure consistency
    1. All artifacts must support the architecture's goal
    2. Avoid architectural deviation and fragmentation

perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove. - Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Supporting principles

  • Create a plan

    • Without a plan there is disorder and arbitraryness

  • Value simplicity over complexity

    • Use well known patterns and basic building blocks that keeps things simple
    • Only allow complexity when no other options are available
    • Simplicity enables flexibility to implement what provides greatest value

  • Do not allow architectural enthropy

    • Retire and refactor to comply with Main principles
    • Keep the architecture fit, and avoid immature decisions

  • Empower the user

    • Interacting with the system should be obvious and frictionless
    • Architecture is the user's information processing supporting structure.

  • Say No to requests for functionality that can not be supported well by the architecture or of little value

Further Reading

Technology must be self-evident Antoine de Saint Exupéry