Egor Bolgov

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗔𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Have you heard about 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘄? It is a theory created by computer scientist Melvin Conway in 1967. which says: "𝘖𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴." In other words, the 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁. This can result in software architecture that is not optimal for the problem being solved, as the team may focus on their own organizational needs over the needs of the system. This means an organization with small distributed teams will produce a modular service architecture, while an organization with large collocated teams will produce a monolithic architecture. In some broad sense, we could even say that 𝗛𝗥 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀. To mitigate this, we can use the 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘂𝘃𝗲𝗿. This technique means we should involve software architects, engineers, and leaders in defining organizational structures. Doing it can lead to better software. Yet, we can see that many organizations ignore Conway's law and think that organizational structures and software architecture are detached from each other, with surprises in the end. Image credits: Manu Cornet (bonkersworld. net). #softwaredesign