Chapter 2 of 7 · 4 practices · 3 min · 4-question quiz
Set technical direction
Help the team make good technical decisions, write them down, and make it easy to revisit them later.
Start: Use short design docs for changes that are ambiguous or costly to undo4 practices in this chapter
- 1Use short design docs for changes that are ambiguous or costly to undoA design doc is an informal document written before coding begins that describes the high-level approach and, most importantly, the trade-offs considered. Malte Ubl's description of design docs at…
- 2Skip the design doc when the solution is obviousDesign docs have a cost. The same article on design docs at Google says they are not worth writing when the solution is not ambiguous, when the doc would only be an implementation manual without…
- 3Record significant decisions as Architectural Decision RecordsAn Architectural Decision Record (ADR) captures one significant decision, its rationale, its trade-offs and its consequences. The collection of ADRs in a project forms its decision log. The idea was…
- 4Settle technical disagreements with facts and principles, not seniorityGoogle's code review standard states that technical facts and data overrule opinions and personal preferences. Design choices should be judged on underlying engineering principles, and when an author…
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