Metadata-Driven Design

Kind: approach

Layer: Declarative Core

Record: architecture:metadata-driven-design

Severity: contextual

Scope: runtime, configuration, framework

Canonical: Ontology

An approach in which behavior such as forms, routes or plugins is generated from validated metadata instead of written case by case.

Listed in Architecture principles, after Self-Describing Structures and before Declarative Configuration.

Requires

• Metadata Schema
• Validation

Reinforces

• Declarative Configuration
• Runtime Discovery

Enables

• Code Generation
• Plugins

Conflicts with

• Hardcoded Behavior

In tension with

• Debuggability

Tensions

• Metadata-Driven Design / Debuggability

Violated by

• Unvalidated Metadata
• Hidden Runtime Behavior

Refactored by

• Declare Capability
• Schema Validation
• Configuration Schema

Severity

• contextual

Category

• Metadata / Self-Description / Declarative Systems

Reinforced by

• Model-Driven Architecture

Linked from

• Definitions own what, code owns how
• Runtime Discovery / Dynamic Binding
• Correctness / Determinism / Verification
• Metadata / Self-Description / Declarative Systems
• Metaprogramming / Language-Oriented Architecture
• Control / Coordination / Centralization
• Core Vocabulary
• Metadata / Self-Description / Declarative Systems
• Quality Attributes
• Severity levels
• The resolutions

in this codebase

• registerPage
• presentation/records