Fundamental architectural patterns Part 1[Systems Design Sundays]

Learning these will help you choose the best option when faced with the challenges personally

Jul 17, 2022

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Imagine you were given a few client needs and constraints,

Now how do you come up with a system for it? Obviously, the first step should be to understand the client's needs and context better to define approximate scopes for the project. But once you have all this figured out, you need to start getting into the implementation details. This is where leveraging patterns as a base can be extremely helpful. Patterns help you quickly solve common problems and act as a solid base. Identify the right pattern, use it as a foundation, and your overall solution can be developed much quicker. It can also help you get all the developers working on a project thinking along the same lines, which is crucial for any larger-scale project.

For a more detailed look at the importance of picking good patterns and organizing your teams/dividing tasks well, look at our post on Conway’s Law.

In this email/post, we will cover some fundamental patterns that can really help you create better solutions. If you want me to cover any of these in-depth, or think I missed a really crucial design pattern let me know in the comments, by replying to this email, through my social media links below, or by showing up at the Tree next to my bedroom window. Any of these work really well.

Sparknotes Highlights

For all you super busy kids here is a quick summary of the upcoming content-

The Patterns covered: In this email, we will be covering the Layers Pattern, The Client Server Pattern, and the Pipeline Pattern.
Layers Pattern: One of the classic Architecture Patterns. Components within the layered architecture pattern are organized into horizontal layers, each layer performing a specific role within the application. Promotes low coupling and high cohesion.
Client-Server Pattern- The basis of the internet. This pattern occurs when we have a central authority (Server) offer one or more services to multiple consumers (Clients). Perfect because it lets resources be distributed in a centralized manner and will let each client operate independently.
Pipe and Filter Pattern- We build a pipeline where each component of our pipeline takes the input data, filters/applies a transformation to it and passes the output along. To those familiar with Machine Learning, this is the foundational approach in ML.

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Layers Pattern

The term old is gold definitely applies here. The reason that such a classic pattern has been able to survive this always-changing industry is because of how powerful and versatile this pattern is. While there are no commandments specifying the number and types of layers that must exist in the pattern, most layered architectures go with four standard layers: presentation, business, persistence, and database.

Image Source: **Chapter 1. Layered Architecture, OReilly**

Each module must be assigned to one and only one layer, where upper layers are allowed to use lower layers (not vice-versa). Each layer of the layered architecture pattern has a specific role and responsibility within the application. Components within a specific layer deal only with logic that pertains to that layer. This promotes the separation of concerns among components. All in all, a really cool pattern with tons of use.

Client Server Pattern

Now onto the pattern that makes this newsletter possible. The CSP is one of the most utilized patterns out there. Simply put, we have a server, which has all the relevant information that we might need. Clients simply request what they need from the client. Easy to understand and implement, but extremely useful.

Simple, but very powerful, this model offers the possibility of building distributed systems where the server centralizes the resources and workload in one place so that later multiple consumers use this data independently.
-Source Fundamental Software Architectural Patterns

One of the best things about this pattern is that it provides a lot of flexibility and customization potential. There can be multiple clients with different uses. Take this newsletter. We host this on Substack servers, which both you and I access as clients. However, I can make requests that you can’t (edit this article, see stats, run special 2-month free deals like the one below, etc. )

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Overall, definitely one of the patterns you want to master.

Pipe and Filter Pattern

Now for the final part of this post, we will cover the pattern that has made me the most money. The Pipe and Filter pattern is a mainstay in data analysis, AI, and Machine Learning. At each stage, we take an input, process it, and share it with the next component. That simple. The short video linked earlier gives more details.

To learn more, watch How to build Machine Learning Projects to get a job in ML. Beginner Version.

This is amazing for statistical analysis heavy work. We’re able to test the effects of different policies on our overall metrics. We can test, combine, and create our algorithms by evaluating the effects on our pipeline. However, this can often be computationally expensive, which is why having a ton of theoretical knowledge is important. Follow me on Medium, YouTube, Linkedin, and Instagram for more content on the same. I always break down complex ML research and ideas into actionable insights. You can find all the links at the end of this post/email.

Even people from the biggest organizations like the Deep Learning content I put out. Check it out.

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Devansh <3

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