Favourite posts

The problem with tiered or layered architecture

9 July 2014

An architecture based on tiers or layers is too inflexible to deal with the more flexible demands of modern systems, particularly when you working with high-volume systems that require distributed processing.

Hackable URIs may look nice, but they don’t have much to do with REST and HATEOAS

21 April 2014

Structured and Hackable URIs are a staple part of SEO-friendly websites. Although developers generically expect to see them in HTTP-based APIs, they should be irrelevant to consumers of a fully RESTful API that leverages HATEOAS.

What role do architects have in agile development?

12 March 2014

Agile principals encourage self-organising teams to take ownership of solutions. This doesn’t leave architects out in the cold, but it does require a more engaged role based on influence rather than governance.

Lean development’s “last responsible moment” should address uncertainty, not justify procrastination

21 February 2014

Deferring decisions to the “last responsible moment” can help you to adapt to the inevitable uncertainty that comes with agile development. The risk is that it can become an excuse for uncertainty that undermines development velocity.

A shared database is still an anti-pattern, no matter what the justification

22 February 2013

Shared databases risk turning into performance bottlenecks that encourage close-coupling and create a single point of failure. There’s no justification for using them to integrate processes and applications.

How not to use dependency injection: service locators and injection mania.

2 July 2012

Development teams can struggle with dependency injection, often because they don’t have a clear understanding of how best to use it.

Why refactoring code is almost always better than rewriting it

30 April 2012

Developers and architects like to build things, so their initial impulse is often to flatten the place, lay some stronger foundations and build something impressive. It can be difficult to get them excited about incremental innovation, even when this is generally the most sensible approach from both a technical and commercial perspective.

The code reuse myth: why internal software reuse initiatives tend to fail

11 April 2012

Despite all the best intentions, software reuse tends to be confined to third party frameworks and tools rather than being an integral part of the development process. Are we expecting too much from software reuse and should we learn to set our sights a little lower?

Ten myths about Quality Assurance in software development

29 December 2011

Everybody would agree that quality is an important part of the software development process. However, the complexity involved in delivering quality is often poorly understood and the amount of effort it requires tends to be underestimated.