Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software

Author: Eric Evans Year: 2003 Genre: Software Architecture

About This Book

Software design thought leader and founder of Domain Language, Eric Evans, provides a systematic approach to domain-driven design, presenting an extensive set of design best practices, experience-based techniques, and fundamental principles that facilitate the development of software projects facing complex domains. Intertwining system design and development practice, this book incorporates numerous examples based on actual projects to illustrate the application of domain-driven design to real-world software modeling and development.

Key Insights

• Model the business, not the database: Let the domain model drive design and language across the team.
• Ubiquitous language: Build a shared, precise vocabulary with domain experts; embed it in code.
• Bounded contexts: Keep models small and consistent; integrate via explicit contracts.
• Aggregates as boundaries: Define transaction and consistency limits around business invariants.
• Context mapping: Understand upstream/downstream relationships and choose integration patterns deliberately.
• Refactor the model: As understanding deepens, evolve the model and code together.

Why I Recommend It

It’s the foundation for building software that truly reflects the business. The strategic patterns (bounded contexts, context maps) and tactical tools (aggregates, domain events) make complex domains comprehensible and codebases maintainable.

If you work beyond CRUD, this book will change how you talk with stakeholders and structure systems.