Hexagonal Architecture Should Be Your Default

Short summary

Hexagonal architecture separates business logic from infrastructure dependencies through ports (interfaces) and adapters (implementations), requiring minimal implementation cost—one interface plus wiring. Benefits include dramatically faster tests, replaceable infrastructure, clearer code, explicit dependencies, deferred decisions, and faster team onboarding. The pattern applies broadly to CLIs, APIs, web services, workers, and mobile apps, though it's unnecessary for throwaway scripts or pure CRUD applications.

• •Minimal cost (one interface + wiring) yields major gains in testability, swappability, and code clarity
• •Key benefits: millisecond-fast tests, replaceable infrastructure, explicit system seams, faster onboarding, and deferred architecture decisions
• •Applicable to CLIs, APIs, web services, workers, mobile apps, data pipelines; skip for throwaway scripts or pure CRUD

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