Generic or Specific? Making Sensible Software Design Decisions • Bert Jan Schrijver • GOTO 2023

This presentation was recorded at GOTO Amsterdam 2023. #GOTOcon #GOTOams Bert Jan Schrijver - JavaOne Rockstar & Champion, NLJUG Leader & CTO at OpenValue @bjschrijver RESOURCES ABSTRACT In software design and software architecture, we often face the question: should we build this generic or specific? Usually, this is not an easy question to answer. The answer depends on a lot of different factors, including future factors you may not be aware of - yet. In this talk, I’ll share my experiences and thought process as a developer and software architect with choosing between generic and specific solutions. I’ll talk about generic vs specific design & architecture, both on a project level and organization level. We’ll look at sharing code/components between teams, inner source culture, monorepo’s, microservices, lifecycle management of generic components and strategic design as a tool to help decide. After this talk, you’ll have practical insights that can help you to choose between generic and specific solutions yourself. [...] TIMECODES 00:00 Intro 00:34 Outline 01:07 What is software design? 01:53 Design vs architecture 02:35 Definitions 12:38 Flexibility in software 15:44 Levels of generic vs specific 18:33 Tools to help decide 27:26 The cost of a generic solution 31:40 When & why to go generic 33:45 Examples why specific often is faster 39:29 Bonus: Sharing code in an organization 42:41 Summary 44:17 Outro Download slides and read the full abstract here: RECOMMENDED BOOKS Sam Newman • Monolith to Microservices • Ronnie Mitra & Irakli Nadareishvili • Microservices: Up and Running • Sander Hoogendoorn • This is Agile • Gerald M. Weinberg • Becoming a Technical Leader • Kent Beck • Test Driven Development • #SoftwareDesign #SoftwareArchitecture #Generic #Specific #Coupling #Flexibility #Adaptability #Microservices #Refactoring #Simplicity #BertJanSchrijver Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket at Sign up for updates and specials at SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL - new videos posted almost daily.