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Discussion on: Solving Imaginary Scaling Issues (at scale)

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edA‑qa mort‑ora‑y

I believe the key to scaling correctly is avoiding a reduction in performance of the current features. New features should be treated as a new concern, but very often they end up breaking existing features. Either you need a way to test out new features in scale, or have a rollback strategy should it not work as desired.

The reason is primarily for user retention. What a service has now is obviously working, and attracting new people. During a growth phase there isn't a need to add new features, since obviosuly the current ones are working. But too often I see companies try to keep piling on features in this phase instead of worry about scaling. This has the double effect of putting a new kind of load on the system, wile also trying to deal with the influx of people. It may end up pissing everybody off and putting a quick end to user growth, or actual reduction in user base.