Seamful Design

Whenever I hear someone use the phrase "seamless design" in reference to a large software system, I cringe inside. Perhaps the examples I have seen are not representative, but in my experience when people try to design a large seamless system they usually end up with a large system with poorly defined and mostly hidden seams, and it's an ugly mess.

Personally, I have no problem with seams per se. I don't think I have any seamless shirts, yet that has never bothered me. Some of my shirts even accent the seams with a different color thread so that they stand out. When done well, the design of the seams adds to the aesthetics of the shirt.

There are very few large man-made objects without seams. Continuously poured concrete freeway lanes are very large, yet even there they put in seams where appropriate, such as for expansion joints, and there are well defined seams between the lanes. A seamless road is very nice until it needs a bit of repair. Then it gets patched, and you have something much uglier than a seam. Or the ground shifts a bit and causes irregular cracks, which are like ugly, poorly designed seams.

Concrete sidewalks could be made seamless for long lengths, like freeways, but usually, in addition to real seams for expansion, they put in fake seams by scribing additional lines across the sidewalk. These control joints are designed so that, if the sidewalk shifts and cracks, it is more likely to do so at the control joint, where it will not mar the appearance of the sidewalk. They also make repairs much nicer: you can rip out and replace one sidewalk square rather than putting in an irregular patch or replacing the entire section between real seams. Those sidewalk designers were not stupid.

In my view, software systems are like shirts and sidewalks: they should have nice seams in the right places. When done well, those software seams can add to the aesthetics of the system and make it simpler to maintain. When I say "software seams" I am of course referring to the interfaces between the different components of the system. A system with well defined interfaces can be a thing of beauty. Without those well defined interfaces, the system may "crack" in random places like a too-large slab of concrete.

The larger the system, the more important it is to have well defined interface points. If your business is successful and continues to grow, eventually you will exceed the capacity of your system. If you have a truly seamless system, you may have to replace the whole thing. With well defined interfaces, you have the option of upgrading only the parts that are at capacity. Similarly, if you ever want to migrate to newer technology for any reason, or integrate with another system, having those interface points makes it possible to migrate or integrate the system in parts, which is generally less expensive, less risky, less impacting, and more flexible.

The next time someone starts talking to you about seamless software, think about seamless shirts and sidewalks before assuming that "seamless" is a good thing.