Conway's law

expression

ops cultureprogramming

The observation that systems end up mirroring the communication structure of the organizations that build them.

If four teams build a compiler, you tend to get a four-pass compiler, because the software's seams form where the teams' conversations do. The modern corollary, the 'inverse Conway maneuver', is to shape teams deliberately so the desired architecture emerges.

Also known as: Conway's law

Sources

  • Conway, 'How Do Committees Invent?' (1968)

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