Evolutionary Architecture

Kind: approach

Layer: Evolution Principles

Record: architecture:evolutionary-architecture

Severity: contextual

Scope: system, codebase

Canonical: Ontology

An approach in which the architecture changes in small increments, each guarded by fitness functions.

Listed in Architecture principles, after Architecture Decision Records (ADR) and before Minimum Viable Architecture.

Requires

• Fitness Functions
• Incremental Change

Reinforces

• Continuous Improvement

Enables

• Controlled Architecture Evolution

Conflicts with

• Big-Upfront Frozen Architecture
• Lava Flow
• Premature Abstraction
• Zombie Code

In tension with

• Governance Discipline

Tensions

• Evolutionary Architecture / Governance Discipline

Contracts

• Evolution Principles

Violated by

• Architecture Drift

Refactored by

• Fitness Functions
• Small-Batch Release

Severity

• contextual

Category

• Architecture Review / Evolution / Governance Artifacts

Reinforced by

• Forward Compatibility

Linked from

• The structural domain
• Anti-patterns
• Contracts / Interfaces / Compatibility
• Architecture Review / Evolution / Governance Artifacts
• Architecture Review Evolution Governance
• Self-Healing / Recovery / Deployment Safety
• Architectural Clusters
• Severity levels
• The resolutions