Architecture Archives - Page 2 of 2

Write More Maintainable Software With a Hexagonal Architecture

Adopting the hexagonal architecture pattern produces software that is more maintainable. It enables you to respond to changes with less fuss than many other architectural patterns. In this article I’ll explain why and offer my thoughts on this pattern.

What is a Hexagonal Architecture?

Alistair Cockburn first coined the term Hexagonal Architecture on his blog in 2005. Also known as the Ports and Adapters pattern, it is a layered architecture. It is a way of separating the domain concerns while making unit tests easier to write and changes simpler to accommodate.

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Are Microservices The Same Old SOA?

by Brian Schalme

Are microservices the same old SOA (Service Oriented Architecture)? Isn’t it just a rehash of the SOA hype? Let’s discuss the similarities and differences.

While microservices and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) are two architecture patterns that deal with services, they have some differences. In fact, despite all the attention you see being given to microservices there are a couple use cases where SOA is the better choice.

So What Is a Microservice?

A microservice a stand-alone process that communicates with its clients using a lightweight mechanism, usually HTTP. Its datastore is a database of some sort. The service is the only application that interacts with its datastore. So let’s say for example you have a CustomerService that reads from and writes to the CUSTOMER table and any related child tables. Only the CustomerService performs SQL actions on those tables; any other services that do something with Customer information must go through the CustomerService using its published interface.

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A Target or a Radar For Your Architecture?

by Brian Schalme

Should you use a target architecture or an architecture radar for your organization? In this post I’ll explain what each one is. I’ll then highlight the differences between them. Finally, I’ll provide my opinion on which one is better and why I think so.

Many organizations, once they get to a certain size, see the need to decide on a particular technology stack. And rightfully so, because a proliferation of various competing technologies leads leads to an organisational drain. IT people need to become conversant and in most cases proficient at JBoss, WebSphere, and WebLogic if all three of these application servers are used. It means the organization ends up going “wide and shallow” across these three instead of “narrow and deep” on just one. In other words, they don’t develop a deep level of expertise on one application server, making problems harder to solve.

Note that this applies to programming languages, databases, application frameworks, and the key libraries an organization uses. It can also apply to server operating systems, routers and other network infrastructure, firewalls, etc.

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What Makes a Successful Software Project?

by Brian Schalme

Solve a Real Business Problem

Some software projects succeed, and others fail. What’s the difference? What are the clues that indicate whether a software project is going to succeed (or fail)? Here are four characteristics.

Number one, in order for any software project to succeed, it needs to solve a business problem. The magnitude of that problem, in terms of dollar value, needs to be greater than the money (time and effort) spent on the project. Otherwise, you’re just blowing an even bigger wad of cash.

Top Management Support

Number two, it needs the commitment and support of top management. Invariably there will be conflicts with allocation of people, time and money. Without this commitment and support, a loss of these resources can cause a project to be delayed, de-scoped, or both. The end result can be disappointing to the business customers. Having this commitment means having an executive on your side to advocate for your project.

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