The original title is about microservices vs pipes/pipelines/functional isolation. Let me rewrite it as a punchy headline.

Short summary

The article argues against defaulting to microservices, advocating instead for pipes, pipelines, and functional isolation as decomposition strategies. It compares technical-axis vs functional-axis decomposition across frameworks like Rails, Sinatra, and Phoenix, and explores how Unix-style pipelines and structural typing can reduce coupling between pipeline stages. The core insight is that decomposition choice should depend on team needs and operational maturity, not on whether you adopt microservices.

• •Functional decomposition (by business capability) often beats technical decomposition but framework constraints can make it awkward
• •Unix-style pipelines minimize cognitive overhead but strict type systems complicate heterogeneous data flow
• •Structural type compatibility and functional record updates offer partial solutions to pipeline coupling problems

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