Meta-Principle: Optimize for Change
Every principle above is a strategy for making future change cheaper and safer. When evaluating any technical decision, the primary question is: "Does this make future change easier or harder?"
- Before committing to an architecture, ask: "What would it cost to reverse this in six months?"
- Prefer decisions that keep options open over decisions that lock in a technology or pattern
- When two approaches are otherwise equal, choose the one that is easier to change later