Skip to main content

Bounded contexts

Now we are entering the main part of DDD: To model the domain.

Context

Context - The environment in which a word or proposition that determines it's meaning.

Bounded contexts are a breakdown of the domain. All major projects covering different sub-models and when the code based on the different models are combined, it can become complex. Communication to and from, and within the team gets confusing. It is often not clear in which context one model should not be applied. The model must be divided in limited contexts with clear interfaces to other parts of the system. Each bounded context shall be independent of the others.

When a number of people working in the same bounded context, there is a risk model becomes fragmented. The more people who are inside, the greater the problems. This breaks down the system into smaller contexts and eventually lose the integration and coherence. There must be a process of merging all code and other artifacts with automated testing. Use the ubiquitous language in order to hammer out a common understanding of the model and concepts. Continuous integration is an essential part of the DDD.

Implementations that have grown during time with no good analysis of the bounded contexts often has a design pattern that could be called BBoM – Big Ball of Mud. The borders between the parts of the server are unclear. Even the responsibilities between the client and the server are entangled. There is no good way to see the protocols.

Context maps

A bounded context leaves some problems in the absence of global perspective. The relationships with other parts of the model may still be vague and constant change.

Developers of other teams may lack knowledge of your context's limits and will unconsciously make changes that blurs the edges or complicating relations. When the connections to be made between different contexts, they tend to bleed into each other.

Identify why each sub model in the project and define its distinct contexts. Name each bounded context and include the name in the ubiquitous language. Describe points of contact between models and their communications. Preferably, the communication is through service-classes and not directly into other defined context.

The context map is often visualized as a simple map which splits the domain into subdomain, and arrows showing which part talks to which part. In the model these often are candidates for submodels, and packages in languages supporting such and even separate micro-services in a large system.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Evolution Of Programming Languages in an AI perspective

Programming languages are at the heart of possibilities in software development, evolving to meet the growing complexity of the problems we solve with computers. From the early days of machine code and punch cards to the modern era of high-level languages and AI-augmented coding, the journey of programming languages reflects humanity’s relentless pursuit of abstraction and efficiency. As artificial intelligence begins to reshape the landscape of software development, we are poised to enter an era of AI-powered programming languages—tools that will fundamentally change how programmers approach their craft. From Punch Cards to High-Level Languages The earliest programmers worked directly with machine code, encoding instructions in binary or hexadecimal formats. This labour-intensive process required an intimate understanding of the underlying hardware. Punch cards, though a technological marvel of their time, epitomized the low-level nature of early programming—tedious, error-prone, and ...

The Industrial Vs the AI Revolution

The transformation of society through technological revolutions has constantly fundamentally reshaped the labour structure. The Industrial Revolution, for instance, marked a profound shift in work for the labouring classes, moving them from farmers' fields and industries into factories. Today, the so-called AI Revolution promises to bring about a similarly seismic shift, not for manual labourers but for the office and intellectual workers who were once considered relatively insulated from mechanization. While the material and historical circumstances differ, the underlying forces remain strikingly parallel. Changing the Nature of Work During the Industrial Revolution, the mechanization of production displaced artisans and craftspeople, as machines took over tasks that had required years of training and skill. This was not merely a displacement of labour but a profound de-skilling of workers, whose tasks were broken into repetitive, machine-supervised steps. The labour force expande...

Yearly Educational Goals vs. Agile Team Learning

At this time of the year, employees often have their yearly reviews and set goals for the following year. From an agile point of view, this is an antipattern. The Agile methodology promotes continuous improvement and adaptation. This philosophy often needs to match this traditional approach of setting fixed yearly educational goals for developers. This discrepancy can be analyzed regarding how these educational strategies align with the interests of labour and management within the industry (as opposed to the orchard)  and how they contribute to or alleviate the alienation and class dynamics inherent in the tech workforce. Yearly educational goals in software development typically involve predefined objectives that developers are expected to achieve within a set timeframe. While this approach provides clear targets and a sense of structure, it can be rigid and limiting in a field known for rapid technological changes and evolving project needs. Such goals may become quickly outdate...