Building Resilient Frontend Architecture

GOTO Berlin 2019

Change is inevitable. So is legacy. And too often, we as developers (who love to solve problems by coding) fall into the trap of believing the only way to fix it is by rewriting everything again and again. But how can we design an application architecture that is more resilient to change in the first place? How can we defend against entropy in a system where people are pushing changes every day?

In this talk we’ll define what architecture means for the frontend, dispel some commonly-held myths, and look at specific tools and techniques on a scale from micro to macro that you can use today to keep your app from turning into that infamous big ball of mud.

What will the audience learn from this talk?
The audience will learn specific practices and techniques they can use to preserve their frontend application's architecture over time. We'll walk through why developers tend to rewrite code over and over again, discuss the concept of "enabling constraints" and how they map to software development, as well as three specific constraints developers can place on their applications to ensure they evolve in a more sustainable way. Although specific examples from React and web development are given, the principles apply to many kinds of applications.

Does it feature code examples and/or live coding?
No live coding and only minor code examples.

Prerequisite attendee experience level:
Level 200 It is something that beginners can grasp conceptually but may struggle to apply without more advanced knowledge.