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Ewerson Vieira Nascimento
Ewerson Vieira Nascimento

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Understanding Clean Architecture Principles

In the world of software development we’re always on the lookout for methods that make our lives easier while building better software. Clean Architecture shines as one such method. It’s a structured approach that combines the best of software architecture fundamentals, Domain-Driven Design (DDD), and Hexagonal Architecture. Let’s dig into some of its principles and see what makes it so special.

Clean Architecture example by Uncle Bob

Consolidating Software Architecture Fundamentals:

Clean Architecture emphasizes the separation of concerns and the organization of code into distinct layers. By applying this principle, developers ensure that each component of the system has a single responsibility, making the codebase easier to understand, maintain, and extend.

Protecting the Domain:

One of the goals of Clean Architecture is to protect the domain of the application. This means isolating business logic and domain-specific rules from external dependencies like frameworks, libraries, and databases so that changes in these external factors do not directly impact the core business logic, promoting flexibility and adaptability.

Low Coupling Between Layers:

Clean Architecture advocates for low coupling between layers, enforcing clear boundaries between different architectural elements with each layer acting as an architectural limit. This separation enables components to evolve independently, reducing the ripple effect of changes and promoting modularization.

Use Case-Oriented Design:

A distinguishing feature of Clean Architecture is its focus on use cases or the intentions of performing actions within the system. By organizing code around these use cases, developers can align software design with real-world scenarios, enhancing clarity and maintainability.

Postponing Decisions and Focusing on Business Rules:

Clean Architecture encourages deferring decisions about technical details such as frameworks, databases, or UI implementations. Instead, developers focus on capturing and implementing business rules effectively. This approach allows for greater flexibility in adapting to changing requirements and technological advancements.

Data Flow from Access to Presentation:

In Clean Architecture, the flow of data follows a clear path from the outer layers (such as the presentation layer or UI) to the inner layers (such as the domain and data layers) and back. This flow ensures that business logic remains agnostic of presentation or database concerns and facilitates testing and maintainability.

While studying about Clean Architecture I’ve built this repository to implement and practice some of its principles. It was not made to be perfect, but to give an idea of ​​how we can use clean architecture in a TypeScript backend.

In summary, Clean Architecture provides a solid framework for creating software that’s easy to maintain, scalable, and aligned with business objectives by emphasizing core software principles, safeguarding the domain, minimizing dependencies between layers, and giving top priority to the business logic in order to build better software solutions.

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