Tag Archives : architecture

We have all heard the mantra, “write once, re-use everywhere,” to describe the concept of creating technology that can ubiquitously to create value in many places. However, publishing APIs alone will not achieve this. To be ubiquitous, you must incorporate the principle of Extensibility into every aspect of design, development and operation. Here is how I have defined this as a guiding architecture principle and applied it to create over $1 Bn of value…

Correct isolation of logic in your applications can enable them to “turn on a dime,” rapidly adapting to changing business rules and requirements. Placing logic in the wrong places can lead to spaghetti, long test cycles or (even worse) complete breakage of your data model. This is why “Isolation of Logic by Type” is an architecture principle I live by–even if many of my vendors do not…

Use of modularity and encapsulation if one of the most powerful approaches to scaling architecture (your ability to built it, your cost to operate it–AND the value you can obtain from it). Those enterprises who incorporate this into the DNA of their technology create “killer networks” that can used to generate enormous value…

A few weeks back, I shared an observation from one of AOL’s former CTO’s that the US Constitution was the best architecture document in history (my apologies to my colleagues from other countries). As we approach US Independence Day, I thought it would be appropriate to begin a series that presented the Architecture Constitution ten years ago and how I am still applying these key concepts five software generations later.

In 2000, AOL’s Chief Technology Officer held an offsite for all of the Chief Architects from AOL, Netscape, CompuServe, ICQ and MapQuest (this was before the closure of the merger with Time Warner. After he posed a question to all of us, “What do you think was the best architecture document in history?”…

In the Web 1.0 world could use different approaches to scale static and dynamic data. This does not translate well into a Web 2.0 world where most content is dynamic (i.e., user-generated content) that can come from ANYWHERE…