Devlog #1: Envisioning the Architecture

As mentioned in my previous article, I have always dreamed of building a modular, scalable component system where I can add features as I need them and control their availability through feature flags.

Architecture in a nutshell

1. Multitenancy - isolates customer data while allowing a single platform to serve many organizations. A fundamental building block for a SaaS product.

2. Feature flags - enable or disable features for specific customers, groups, or environments. This allows new functionality to be rolled out gradually without affecting everyone.

3. Event-driven architecture - components communicate through events rather than being tightly coupled to each other. This makes the system easier to extend and integrate.

4. Workflow engine - turns business processes into configurable, automated workflows. Users can define and automate their own processes without writing code.

5. Modular architecture - functionality is isolated into modules (Django apps). Each module has clear responsibilities and can be developed and tested independently, making the overall system easier to maintain and extend.

Engineering style

1. Composition over inheritance - prefer composing smaller, focused components over building deep inheritance hierarchies. This keeps the system more flexible and easier to change.

2. Service layer - business logic is separated from framework-specific concerns such as views, tasks, and models. This provides a consistent interface for calling business operations and makes the underlying implementation easier to change.

My two cents

I intend to make this the last SaaS project I will ever build… also it has no definition of “done” :)