Conway's Law
Problem: Aligning organization and architecture
Context:
An Architect and development team are in place. The architecture is fairly well-established.
Forces:
Architecture shapes the communication paths in an organization.
De facto organization structure shapes formal organization structure.
Formal organization structure shapes architecture.
Early architectural formulations are only approximations and are unstable.
Solution:
Make sure the organization is compatible with the product architecture. At this point in the language, it is more likely that the architecture should drive the organization than vice versa.
Resulting Context:
The organization and product architecture will be aligned.
Design Rationale:
Historical.
Gerard Meszaros (BNR) notes that you want to bind the organization to the architecture only after the architecture has stablized. If your bind the organization to the architecture too early, arch itectural drift will lead to interference between individuals' domains of control.
