About this article
Thank you for visiting this site. This article is a guide listing all 5 articles in the “Application Architecture” category of the Architecture Crash Course for the Generative-AI Era series.
Application architecture is the layer that defines the rules inside the code. Class design, naming conventions, where to put domain logic, error handling — the rules every member of the development team follows in daily coding. If software architecture decides the structure of the building, application architecture decides how rooms are used and what the house rules are.
Article index
1. Application Architecture Overview — The Rules Inside the Code
A bird’s-eye view of application architecture. Clarifies the difference from software architecture and maps out what to decide as “the rules inside the code” — class design, naming, domain logic, and error handling.
2. Class Design Fundamentals — SOLID Principles and Inheritance vs. Delegation
Explains the SOLID principles at the core of class design with real examples. Covers inheritance vs. delegation, testability, and complexity Gate metrics — the fundamentals that keep the blast radius of changes local. In an era where AI writes code, understanding SOLID as a review axis is even more important.
3. Domain Logic — Transaction Script vs. DDD
Where do you put business logic? Compares the two major styles — Transaction Script (procedural) and DDD — covering strategic DDD, Value Objects, and Aggregates. Learn which style to pick based on the complexity of your business domain.
4. Naming and Code Conventions — End the Debate with Automation
Beyond naming fundamentals and casing rules, covers Linter/Formatter, directory structure, CODEOWNERS, and Conventional Commits. Learn how to automate naming and formatting debates away in CI, boosting team productivity.
5. Error Handling — Systems That Recover Even When They Fall
Covers error classification, exceptions vs. Result types, error boundaries, correlation IDs, retry strategies, idempotency, Circuit Breaker, and timeouts — a systematic tour of the defensive patterns for systems that recover from failure. Essential reading for building resilient systems.
Summary
This article listed all 5 articles in the Application Architecture category of the Architecture Crash Course for the Generative-AI Era series.
Application architecture may look unglamorous, but it is the domain that most directly impacts development team productivity. A codebase with consistent naming and class design conventions and one without show a huge difference in long-term development velocity.
For the overall series structure and other categories, see the master series index.
Hope you’ll check out the next article as well.