How Much Upfront Design Do You Really Need? | Simon Brown's Take on Agile Architecture

#SoftwareArchitecture #AgileDevelopment #SimonBrown #TechnicalDebt #UpfrontDesign #CleanArchitecture #LegacyCode #Microservices #MartinFowler #GradyBooch

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   • Simon Brown — The lost art of software design  

In modern software development, we’re often told to "defer decisions" and "embrace change"—but how far should that really go?

In this clip, Simon Brown breaks down why some upfront design is not only helpful, but necessary, especially when it comes to the high-impact architectural choices that are costly to undo later. From technology stacks to microservices vs. monoliths, Simon urges teams to focus on the decisions that matter most.

In this commentary, we explore how early alignment around architecture can actually give you more flexibility in the long run—and how the absence of clarity often leads to technical debt, rigidity, and a legacy codebase that becomes impossible to reshape.

📌 Topics Covered:

Why "just enough" design matters in agile
High-cost, hard-to-reverse decisions in software
The legacy trap and cost of change
Visual clarity vs. whiteboard ambiguity
Commentary on Grady Booch & Martin Fowler's architectural advice