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Frank Liu

Software development career is very rewarding. Being able to code with simple, efficient and clean architecture will not only help you crack your interviews, but also take your career to a whole new level.

Software development jobs are mainly in developing business applications. This is the focus of this course. In this course, I will dive deep into the typical layered architecture for business applications, analyze the pros and cons of it and then present you the Clean Architecture, also known as the onion architecture, which is covered in Robert Martin's books and blogs.

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Software development career is very rewarding. Being able to code with simple, efficient and clean architecture will not only help you crack your interviews, but also take your career to a whole new level.

Software development jobs are mainly in developing business applications. This is the focus of this course. In this course, I will dive deep into the typical layered architecture for business applications, analyze the pros and cons of it and then present you the Clean Architecture, also known as the onion architecture, which is covered in Robert Martin's books and blogs.

This course is not just full of theories, I prepared a cargo shipping application as a whole case study with a lot of existing code analysis to help you understand the related software design principles, applying layered architecture and the clean architecture. I also code in front of your eyes when I apply the Clean Architecture to implement two new use cases.

By the end of the course, you will have a thorough understanding of the Separation of Concerns principle, layered architecture as well as the Clean Architecture and be able to use them in your next projects.

What you will learn:

  • Basic Software Architecture Concepts

  • Layered Architecture

  • Clean Architecture (Onion Architecture)

  • Separation of Concerns Principle

  • How Clean Architecture helps TDD and Unit Testing

  • Common Mistakes in Software Architecture

What you will need:

  • You have programmed for more than 6 months with any OOP languages

  • You have basic knowledge of OOP

  • You are eager to learn software architecture

Who this course is for:

  • Anyone with any OOP computer languages knowledge who wants to know more about software architecture in business apps.

  • Anyone who want to learn about the Clean Architecture (Onion Architecture) but haven't been able to grasp it yet.

Last but not least:

Enjoy this course and don't forget to check out my other courses which are created with the Clean Architecture in them to help you further understand this great architecture.

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What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Basic software architecture concepts
  • Layered architecture
  • Clean architecture (onion architecture)
  • Separation of concerns principle
  • How clean architecture helps tdd and unit testing
  • Common mistakes in software architecture

Syllabus

Software Architecture Concepts
What is Software Architecture
What is a good Software Architecture
What is Complexity
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Traffic lights

Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Explores the Clean Architecture, which is highly regarded for its maintainability and testability in complex business applications
Teaches the Separation of Concerns principle, which is a fundamental concept for designing modular and maintainable software systems
Requires at least six months of programming experience with OOP languages, suggesting a focus on practical application rather than introductory concepts
Analyzes the pros and cons of layered architecture, providing a balanced perspective before introducing the Clean Architecture as an alternative
Uses a cargo shipping application as a case study, offering a real-world context for understanding and applying architectural principles
Focuses on business applications, which may not be relevant for learners interested in other domains such as game development or embedded systems

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Reviews summary

Practical clean architecture for developers

According to learners, this course provides a largely positive introduction to Clean Architecture. Students particularly praised the practical case study, noting how it helped them apply concepts in real-world business applications. The explanations of complex topics like Onion Architecture and Separation of Concerns were found to be very clear and accessible, with the instructor receiving frequent praise. While titled "Clean Architecture for Beginners," some reviews suggest the course is best suited for developers with some existing experience beyond basic OOP, noting it can be a bit fast-paced or assumes a certain level of comfort with reading code. The course seems to deliver on its promise of a practical guide for developers looking to improve their design skills.
Complex architecture concepts explained well.
"The instructor's explanations were very clear."
"The separation of concerns principle was explained very well through the examples."
"Foundational concepts of clean architecture made accessible... explanation clicked for me."
"Instructor is knowledgeable and presents the material clearly."
Helps apply concepts to real-world apps.
"The explanation of Clean Architecture with the cargo shipping case study made it incredibly practical."
"The focus on business applications is exactly what I needed."
"The practical examples applying the architecture were the strongest part."
"The hands-on coding sections where the instructor builds features using the architecture were invaluable."
Some parts felt rushed or needed more explanation.
"...case study was okay but sometimes felt a bit rushed."
"...maybe add more explanation on *why* certain design choices were made in the case study."
"...the code isn't always explained line-by-line, requiring you to pause and figure things out."
Requires prior dev experience beyond basic OOP.
"Might be a bit fast-paced if you have zero prior arch knowledge..."
"The 'beginner' title might be misleading for some, it assumes a certain level of experience..."
"The 'beginner' label feels slightly off. It's not entry-level programming..."
"...assumes you're comfortable with reading and understanding non-trivial code examples quickly."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Clean Architecture for Beginners: A Practical Guide with these activities:
Review SOLID Principles
Reinforce your understanding of SOLID principles, which are foundational to Clean Architecture and help ensure maintainable and testable code.
Browse courses on SOLID Principles
Show steps
  • Read articles or watch videos explaining each SOLID principle.
  • Find code examples demonstrating violations and corrections of each principle.
  • Reflect on how these principles relate to Separation of Concerns.
Review "Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship"
Deepen your understanding of clean coding practices, which are essential for implementing Clean Architecture effectively.
View CLEAN CODE on Amazon
Show steps
  • Read the book, focusing on the chapters related to code structure and design.
  • Identify specific coding practices that align with the Clean Architecture principles.
  • Apply the book's recommendations to your own code or projects.
Implement Dependency Injection Containers
Practice implementing dependency injection using different containers to master the technique for decoupling components in Clean Architecture.
Show steps
  • Choose a dependency injection container (e.g., Spring, Guice, Dagger).
  • Create a simple application with several components that depend on each other.
  • Configure the dependency injection container to manage the dependencies between the components.
  • Run the application and verify that the dependencies are injected correctly.
Three other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all six activities
Document a Clean Architecture Implementation
Solidify your understanding of Clean Architecture by documenting a real-world implementation, explaining the design choices and benefits.
Show steps
  • Choose a Clean Architecture project (yours or an open-source example).
  • Document the project's architecture, explaining the different layers and their responsibilities.
  • Describe the benefits of using Clean Architecture in this specific context.
  • Share your documentation with others for feedback and discussion.
Refactor an Existing Project
Apply the Clean Architecture principles learned in the course to refactor an existing codebase, solidifying your understanding through practical application.
Show steps
  • Choose a small to medium-sized project with which you are familiar.
  • Analyze the existing architecture and identify areas for improvement.
  • Refactor the code to align with Clean Architecture principles, focusing on separation of concerns.
  • Write unit tests to ensure the refactored code functions correctly.
Review "Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software"
Explore Domain-Driven Design principles to enhance your understanding of how to model the business domain within a Clean Architecture.
Show steps
  • Read the book, focusing on the strategic and tactical design patterns.
  • Identify how DDD principles can be applied to the inner layers of a Clean Architecture.
  • Consider how DDD can improve the maintainability and evolvability of your applications.

Career center

Learners who complete Clean Architecture for Beginners: A Practical Guide will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Software Architect
As a Software Architect, you are responsible for designing the overall structure and architecture of software systems. This often involves making high level design choices. This course dives into software architecture concepts, including layered architecture and Clean Architecture, which are essential for creating maintainable and scalable systems. The separation of concerns principle, a key takeaway from the course, helps architects design modular and testable applications. The practical case study on a cargo shipping application in this course provides real world examples of applying these architectural patterns to implement new use cases. You'll gain an understanding of common mistakes in software architecture. With this knowledge, you can avoid issues in your own projects.
Application Developer
Application Developers build and maintain software applications, requiring a strong understanding of software architecture. This course explores layered and Clean Architecture, two prevalent approaches in application development. The course's focus on the separation of concerns principle helps developers write more modular, testable, and maintainable code. Understanding the pros and cons of different architectural approaches, as covered in the course, enables developers to make informed decisions about how to structure their applications. By analyzing existing code and implementing new use cases with Clean Architecture, you can improve your ability to design and build robust applications. The course's insight on software architecture concepts and common mistakes may also be useful.
Software Engineer
Software Engineers work on the design, development, and maintenance of software systems. This course helps you understand key software architecture principles. By exploring layered architecture and Clean Architecture, you can learn how to structure your code for better maintainability and scalability. The course's focus on the separation of concerns principle enables you to write more modular and testable code. The hands on case study, where Clean Architecture is applied to a cargo shipping application, provides practical experience in implementing architectural patterns. You'll also discover how Clean Architecture helps test driven development and unit testing. The analysis of existing code in this course is an advantage.
Backend Developer
Backend Developers are responsible for the server side logic and databases that power applications. This course can help you understand how to design and build robust and scalable backend systems. The course introduces layered architecture and Clean Architecture, which are valuable for structuring backend code. You can learn how the separation of concerns principle improves code organization. The course's exploration of dependency injection can help you manage dependencies in your backend applications. Through the practical case study, you can gain experience in applying Clean Architecture to real world problems. The course emphasizes avoiding common software architecture mistakes during application development.
Technical Lead
Technical Leads oversee a team of software developers and are responsible for making technical decisions. With this course, you can deepen your understanding of software architecture concepts and guide your team in building well structured and maintainable applications. The course explores layered architecture and Clean Architecture, providing you with different approaches to system design. You can learn how the separation of concerns principle promotes modularity and testability. The practical case study provides you with examples you can share with your team. Understanding common mistakes in software architecture, as covered in the course, will help you guide your team away them.
Software Consultant
Software Consultants advise organizations on how to use software to achieve their goals. With this course, you can expand your knowledge of software architecture best practices. The course introduces layered architecture and Clean Architecture, offering different approaches to designing software systems. You can learn how the separation of concerns principle improves code modularity and maintainability. The practical case study can provide you with real world examples to share with your clients. The course's discussion of how Clean Architecture helps test driven development and unit testing is helpful. The course may be particularly useful.
System Designer
System Designers plan and design complex computer systems. Clean Architecture, explored in the course, helps you design systems that are flexible and adaptable to change. You can better understand how to break down complex systems into smaller, manageable components by learning about the separation of concerns principle. This course goes over the basics of software architecture concepts. The course helps you learn about dependency injection, which can improve testability. By studying the case study in this course, you can learn how to apply Clean Architecture to real world use cases. You may find the material useful.
Quality Assurance Engineer
Quality Assurance Engineers test software to ensure it meets quality standards. This course may help you understand how Clean Architecture promotes testability through the separation of concerns principle. You can learn how different layers of the architecture are designed to be independently tested. By understanding the principles of Clean Architecture, you can design more effective test strategies. Topics like test driven development and unit testing are discussed. The course addresses common mistakes in software architecture. This course may be useful.
Database Administrator
Database Administrators are responsible for the performance, integrity, and security of databases. This course may help you understand how database design fits into the overall software architecture by covering the separation of concerns principle. By studying the different Clean Architecture layers, you can gain an understanding of how the database interacts with the application logic. The course's focus on layered architecture may provide insights into how to structure your database schemas. This course discusses the basics of software architecture concepts. This course may be useful.
Data Engineer
Data Engineers build and maintain the infrastructure for data storage and processing. The separation of concerns principle, introduced in this course, helps you design modular and maintainable data pipelines. The course's exploration of layered architecture can help you structure your data processing systems. This course goes over software architecture concepts. You can learn about dependency injection to manage dependencies. By learning the basics of software architecture concepts, you may improve systems. This course may be useful.
Mobile Application Developer
Mobile Application Developers create applications for smartphones and tablets. This course may help you design and build robust and maintainable mobile applications. Layered architecture and Clean Architecture, which are explored in the course, can be applied to structure mobile app code. You can learn how the separation of concerns principle improves code organization. This course goes over software architecture concepts. The course discusses common software architecture mistakes. By grasping the basics covered in this course, may provide some value.
Web Developer
Web Developers build and maintain websites and web applications. This course may help you design and build robust and scalable web applications. Layered architecture and Clean Architecture, which are explored in the course, can be used to structure web application code. You can learn how the separation of concerns principle enables you to write more modular and maintainable code. This course goes over software architecture concepts. The course discusses common software architecture mistakes. By grasping the basics covered in this course, you may improve your code.
Game Developer
Game Developers design and create video games. While this course focuses on business applications, it may still be useful for game developers who want to learn about software architecture principles. The separation of concerns principle, covered in the course, is valuable for organizing game code. Topics such as the layered architecture can be applied to structure game systems. This course goes over software architecture concepts. By learning the basics, you may improve your structuring of game systems. This course may be useful.
Machine Learning Engineer
Machine Learning Engineers develop and deploy machine learning models. While this course focuses on software architecture for business applications, the concepts of modularity and separation of concerns may be applicable. The separation of concerns principle, covered in the course, can help you structure your machine learning code and pipelines. This course goes over software architecture concepts. By learning the basics, you may improve your structuring of machine learning code. This course may be useful.
Technical Writer
Technical Writers create documentation for software systems. While not directly related to software architecture, this course may help you understand the underlying structure and design of the systems you are documenting. This course goes over software architecture concepts, including discussions of layered architecture and Clean Architecture. By understanding these concepts, you may be better equipped to communicate them clearly in your documentation. This course may be useful.

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Clean Architecture for Beginners: A Practical Guide.
Foundational text for anyone interested in clean and maintainable code. It provides practical advice and principles for writing code that is easy to understand, test, and modify. Given the course's focus on Clean Architecture, this book serves as an excellent companion, providing the coding-level details that complement the architectural concepts.
Domain-Driven Design (DDD) software development approach that focuses on modeling the domain of the application. seminal work on DDD, providing guidance on how to create software that is aligned with the business needs. While not directly about Clean Architecture, DDD complements it by providing a framework for understanding and modeling the core business logic of an application, which is crucial for effective architecture.

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