How To Avoid The Pitfalls Of Not Applying Clean Architecture In Software
The software that we design and implement has to be reliable, maintainable and scalable. If a software is not designed with these qualities in mind, it can turn into a mess. This article discusses the importance of practicing clean code and architecture in order to avoid the pitfalls of not applying them
Clean code and clean architecture
When it comes to software development, clean code and clean architecture are two of the most important concepts to keep in mind. Unfortunately, they are often overlooked or not applied properly, which can lead to a number of problems down the line. Clean code is all about making your code easy to read, understand, and maintain. It should be well-organized and free of any unnecessary clutter. This makes it simpler and faster to make changes when needed, and also helps prevent errors from creeping in. Meanwhile, clean architecture is all about designing your software in a way that keeps the different parts loosely coupled and easily interchangeable. This makes your code more robust and easier to scale as your needs change over time. Unfortunately, both of these concepts are often ignored or misunderstood. As a result, many software projects end up being needlessly complex and difficult to maintain. If you want to avoid these pitfalls, be sure to keep clean code and clean architecture in mind from the very start of your project.
When in need of good architecture patterns look out for existing platforms and solutions. Open source projects that survived the harsh reality of software engineering will be a great source for anyone who is looking for good patterns. With time and experience a software engineer will be able to tell apart the anti-patterns and patterns one should follow.
What does clean code look like?
When it comes to clean code, there are a few key things to keep in mind. First and foremost, clean code is readable and easy to understand. It is well- organized and well-documented, so that anyone who needs to can easily find and use the information they need. Clean code is also consistent in style and formatting. This makes it easier to read and understand, as well as more likely to be error-free. In addition, clean code is modular – it is organized into small, self-contained units that can be easily reused. Finally, clean code is testable. This means that it can be verified that the code does what it is supposed to do, and that any changes made will not break existing functionality. By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your code is clean, readable, and maintainable – all of which are essential for any software project.
Clean code essentials:
Security
The best present any software architect can do for himself is to start the design from security first perspective. Making a proper threat modeling will help in establishing the correct patterns and services needed to complete the project.
These days security first approach in my opinion is the only way to write a professional software. Even if your code or project is squeaky clean but you did not plan or execute any kind of security strategy, you may end up loosing reputation or feel wrath of your client when their application gets DDOS’ed or data breached.
For more info om threat modeling and running your project in the DevSecOps methodology please checkout his link
Documentation
This sometimes can be the most overlooked part of the project, however it will be the most important thing in keeping it truly alive. Proper documentation should include
- How to install the project
- How to start the application in dev mode
- How to build the project (production mode)
- What is the delivery scenario (CI/CD, Release strategy and naming conventions)
- Architecture and Services used in Software (Servers, DB’s, Caches, Blobs, 3rd party)
- Where to get the secret keys (Vaults, People, …)
- How to monitor the software (Logs, AppInsights, Trackers …)
- coding and contributions standards (Style, Commits, Tests, Coverage)
Common pitfalls
We do not need to think about the structure or clean code at the beginning of the project
There are many potential problems that can arise from not having a clean architecture or clean code in your software project. Some of the more common ones include:
- Increased complexity and confusion: Without a well-defined architecture, your code can quickly become complex and difficult to understand. This can lead to confusion and errors when making changes or adding new features.
- decreased flexibility: A messy codebase can be very inflexible, making it hard to make changes or add new functionality without breaking existing code.
- increased maintenance costs: Dirty code is often more difficult and time-consuming to maintain, leading to higher costs over time.
- decreased reliability: Code that is poorly organized and written in a hurry is often less reliable and may contain more bugs. This can lead to unexpected behavior and crashes, which can be very frustrating for users.
- decreased quality: In general, lower-quality code is simply not as good as well-crafted code. This can impact the overall quality of your project and make it less likely to meet users’ needs and expectations.
Not following the rules outlined before will result in a typical scenario where your development velocity will drop exponentially, leaving your project manager or client frustrated. In this case the development team primary goal is to deliver features, not thinking about the structure of the project, not giving the team or developer the time needed to implement proper testing or refactoring what was already written. The usual management response to this situation is add more man power to the development team in hopes that additional team mates will bring the velocity back up to where it was at the beginning of the project. However adding more people to a late project will make it even latter.
It is important to understand that the business does not understand this, nor care, however it is up the development team to establish the speed and proper timetable. The conversation about the proposed velocity with business side will be a difficult one, but it will always be a part of the development cycle.
No need to deploy straight away, we will think about the CI/CD later on
Not establishing proper git flow, automatic code delivery to an online environment, will result in a classic “It works on my computer” - “but are we going to give your computer to the client ?” Developers tend to have fast machines with loads of ram, pushing straight to online instances should be a natural step in order to catch these differences. Calls and functions that work normally on your computer can suddenly be too much for a small server or online cloud instance. We also have to think about differences in Operating Systems, network speed and other external factors.
Make yourself a favour and make sure to test major pushes straight on the online environment.
This will also help with any kind of more advanced patterns like microservices, one must be careful not fall into a trap of creating applications that are easy to develop but hard to deploy
Clean architecture does not impact on how the system works
This is another misconception among developers, true software architects will take into consideration what are the business costs of running a project. Clean architecture keeps the system lean, unnecessary code or bad arch will have impact on system performance, ram and cpu usage. Upgrading servers or instances so your application works as it should can result in additional frictions with your client, or can even result in client dropping the project if the estimated server costs are met with huge real costs of sustaining an application.
Conclusion
If you’re not careful, it’s easy to fall into the trap of not applying clean architecture in your software development projects. However, by following the tips outlined in this article, you can avoid these pitfalls and create cleaner, more maintainable code. By adhering to the principles of clean architecture, you can make your code easier to understand, reuse, and modify – which will save you time and money in the long run.
Clean arch tries to minimize costs of adding features, fixing bugs, it will direct the developer in where solution should be added, and what is the most important it should protect the system from implementing a bug that cannot be fixed.
