Chapter 15: Architecture Best Practices
Chapter 15 of 15
Chapter 15: Architecture Best Practices
15.1 Design Principles
Following proven design principles creates maintainable, scalable architectures.
SOLID Principles:
- S - Single Responsibility: Each class/function has one reason to change
- O - Open/Closed: Open for extension, closed for modification
- L - Liskov Substitution: Subtypes must be substitutable for base types
- I - Interface Segregation: Clients shouldn't depend on unused interfaces
- D - Dependency Inversion: Depend on abstractions, not concretions
DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself):
- Avoid code duplication
- Extract common functionality
- Create reusable components
- Maintain single source of truth
KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid):
- Prefer simple solutions
- Avoid over-engineering
- Solve actual problems
- Don't add complexity prematurely
YAGNI (You Aren't Gonna Need It):
- Don't build features until needed
- Avoid speculative development
- Focus on current requirements
- Reduce unnecessary complexity
15.2 Documentation
Good documentation helps teams understand and maintain the architecture.
Architecture Documentation:
- System overview and purpose
- Component diagrams
- Data flow diagrams
- Technology stack
- Deployment architecture
- Security considerations
Code Documentation:
- API documentation (OpenAPI/Swagger)
- Code comments for complex logic
- README files for setup
- Inline documentation
Documentation Tools:
- Swagger/OpenAPI: API documentation
- JSDoc/PHPDoc: Code documentation
- Markdown: General documentation
- Diagrams: Architecture visualization
15.3 Code Quality
Maintain high code quality for long-term success.
- Follow coding standards and style guides
- Use linters and formatters
- Conduct code reviews
- Refactor regularly
- Write clean, readable code
- Keep functions small and focused
15.4 Continuous Improvement
Architecture should evolve with requirements.
- Regular architecture reviews
- Refactor when needed
- Update dependencies
- Monitor and optimize performance
- Learn from mistakes
- Stay updated with best practices
Conclusion
Good architecture is the foundation of scalable applications. Master these patterns to build robust full-stack systems.