Building Domain Memory to preserve your system’s why
Most systems don't turn into "legacy" because of bad code. They turn into legacy when the people who carry the system's mental model leave. Peter Naur called it the "theory of the system": the why, the trade‑offs, the language, and the shape of the solution.
Intuitively, we know this. Yet as an industry, we keep trying to solve legacy with more tech and explicit knowledge tracking: better docs, code comments, wikis, diagrams, automated tests and AI coding assistants. We don't tackle the actual problem: tacit knowledge loss.
What you will learn from this talk:
- Understand why this cannot be solved by better docs and tech alone.
- How only human collaboration through practices like modeling, pairing and living language can keep theory alive.
- How to measure and improve knowledge continuity in your team with simple metrics.
If we want to create software that lasts, we need to encourage human collaboration across disciplines, backgrounds and personalities (including our new AI buddies). Learn how to use your human power skills to better understand the problems you're facing and build systems that last!
About Nico Krijnen(he/him)
Tech Lead, bridging strategy, technology & organization | Speaker on DDD, Code Quality, DevOps | Architect at Luminis