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Software Architecture

Software Architecture

Comprehensive guide to software architecture patterns, styles, and best practices for building scalable systems

Software Architecture

Software architecture defines the high-level structure of a system, including its components, their relationships, and the principles governing their design and evolution. Choosing the right architecture is crucial for building maintainable, scalable, and resilient applications.

Architecture Styles Overview

ArchitectureBest ForComplexityScalabilityTeam Size
MonolithicMVPs, Small appsLowVerticalSmall
Modular MonolithGrowing appsMediumVerticalMedium
MicroservicesLarge systemsHighHorizontalLarge
ServerlessEvent-driven, APIsMediumAutoAny
Event-DrivenReal-time systemsHighHorizontalMedium-Large
HexagonalDomain complexityMediumVariesMedium
CQRSHigh-read/write ratioHighHorizontalMedium-Large

Choosing the Right Architecture

There is no "one-size-fits-all" architecture. The best choice depends on your team size, domain complexity, scalability requirements, and time-to-market constraints.

Architecture Categories

Key Architecture Principles

1. Separation of Concerns

Divide your system into distinct sections, each addressing a separate concern.

// Bad: Mixed concerns
const createOrder = async (orderData: OrderInput) => {
  // Validation, business logic, persistence, and notification all mixed
  if (!orderData.items.length) throw new Error('No items');
  const total = orderData.items.reduce((sum, i) => sum + i.price, 0);
  await db.orders.insert({ ...orderData, total });
  await sendEmail(orderData.customerEmail, 'Order confirmed');
  await updateInventory(orderData.items);
  return { success: true };
};

// Good: Separated concerns
const createOrder = async (orderData: OrderInput) => {
  const validatedOrder = validateOrder(orderData);           // Validation layer
  const order = OrderService.create(validatedOrder);          // Domain layer
  await OrderRepository.save(order);                          // Persistence layer
  await EventBus.publish(new OrderCreatedEvent(order));       // Event layer
  return order;
};

2. Single Source of Truth

Each piece of data should have one authoritative source.

3. Loose Coupling, High Cohesion

Components should be independent but internally focused on a single purpose.

4. Design for Failure

Assume components will fail and design accordingly.

// Resilient service call with retry and circuit breaker
const fetchUserData = async (userId: string) => {
  return withCircuitBreaker(
    () => withRetry(
      () => userService.getById(userId),
      { maxRetries: 3, backoff: 'exponential' }
    ),
    { failureThreshold: 5, resetTimeout: 30000 }
  );
};

Architecture Decision Records (ADR)

Document your architecture decisions using ADRs:

# ADR-001: Choose Microservices Architecture

## Status
Accepted

## Context
Our monolithic application is experiencing scaling issues 
and deployment bottlenecks with 50+ developers.

## Decision
Migrate to microservices architecture with domain-driven boundaries.

## Consequences
- **Positive**: Independent scaling, team autonomy, technology flexibility
- **Negative**: Increased operational complexity, network latency
- **Risks**: Data consistency challenges, debugging difficulty

Next Steps

Start with the architecture that matches your current needs, not your future dreams. You can always evolve:

  1. Starting a new project? → Begin with Monolithic
  2. Need auto-scaling? → Explore Serverless
  3. Building at scale? → Learn Microservices
  4. Complex domain? → Study Hexagonal

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