Oliver Drotbohm - Modulithic Applications

Nov 14, 2023

Oliver Drotbohm, a Staff 2 Engineer at VMware, discusses the pillars of maintainable software: understandability and modifiability. They analyze the metaphor of technical debt and the importance of clear documentation in architecture design decisions. They delve into the strategic use of microservices and introduce the Modulithic project for Java Spring. Oliver gives a sneak peek of his book, 'Modulithic Applications with Spring,' and shares the challenges of writing technical literature in a constantly evolving industry.

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Introduction

00:00 • 3min

Approaching a New Project and Understanding the Code Base

02:35 • 7min

Considering Quality, Limited Information, and Technical Debt in Software Development

10:03 • 4min

Importance of Documentation and Design Decisions in Software Development

13:57 • 12min

Building software for VMware and working with customers to improve the framework

25:32 • 4min

Writing and Contributing to Open Source Projects

29:21 • 12min

Robby has a chat with Oliver Drotbohm, a Staff 2 Engineer at VMware. They explore the essence of maintainable software, pinpointing understandability and modifiability as its foundational pillars. Drawing from Dr. Carola Lilienthal's "Sustainable Software Architecture: Analyze and Reduce Technical Debt," Robby and Oliver dissect the metaphor of technical debt, discussing its historical context and its relevance in today's fast-paced software development environment.

Their nuanced conversation balanced the need for making compromises with the risk of over-preparation, emphasizing the critical role that clear documentation of architecture design decisions plays. They further delve into the iterative nature of building sustainable software, advocating for a build-feedback-repeat cycle to ensure that the right product is being developed.

Their discussion pivots to the strategic use of microservices, unpacking the circumstances that justify their implementation and the inherent tradeoffs. An overview of the Modulithic project for Java Spring presents a modern approach to modular software development. They round off with a sneak peek of Oliver's book, "Modulithic Applications with Spring," while also touching upon the inherent challenges of writing technical literature in an industry where change is the only constant. Tune in and enjoy!

Book Recommendations:

The Creative Act: A Way of Being By Rick Rubin

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