The Structure of Node.JS Applications
summary
Argues that Node.JS and npm’s extreme modularity leads to hundreds of thousands of tiny packages and lots of abandonware, and reports launching a runtime product called NSolid while observing real projects work better starting monolithic and extracting later. Demonstrates time lost building many tiny libraries (often days per small API), cites code‑retreat lessons and a lost project incident, recommends defer decisions and flat over nested designs, and claims premature modularization usually wastes effort.
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chapters (24)
- 0:00TIM OXLEY MODULAR VS MONOLITH
- 0:18GOOD MORNING!
- 0:42WHO AM I?
- 2:28NODE.JS: CULTURE OF EXTREME MODULARITY
- 2:41ME IN 2012
- 7:15RABBIT HOLES EVERYWHERE
- 9:16NOTHING FOR FREE
- 9:52MOST OF THE TIME
- 11:11WHAT PROBLEM AM I TRYING TO SOLVE? 'IS THIS THE SIMPLEST THING THAT WILL WORK?
- 13:08AVOID PREMATURE MODULARISATION
- 15:04ASSUME YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT WILL BE BAD 60
- 16:29CODE RETREAT
- 18:23DON'T GET PRECIOUS ABOUT YOUR CODE
- 20:31OVER-ENGINEERING: THE ADDING OF UNNECESSARY COMPLEXITY
- 21:10COMPLEXITY KILLS PROJECTS
- 24:36DEFER DECISIONS
- 25:47DRAW IN PENCIL BEFORE YOU DRAW IN INK
- 26:15ABSTRACTIONS DECREASE LOCAL COMPLEXITY WHILE INCREASING GLOBAL COMPLEXITY
- 27:32BUILDING THE WRONG THING FOR THE RIGHT REASONS
- 28:34BUILD THE SIMPLEST THING THAT WORKS?
- 28:44FLAT IS BETTER THAN NESTED Z
- 29:19At the statement level: avoid nested if/else. At the function level: avoid nested callbacks (i.e. Pyramid of doom) At the class level: avoid nested inheritance hierarchies. At the file level: avoid nested directories.
- 34:16BUILD THE SIMPLEST THING THAT WORKS u
- 34:47THANK YOU!
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