Just start (with Value Objects)

My journey with Domain-Driven Design began with confusion and skepticism. Inherited codebases built on DDD's layered architecture made me question the value of the domain layer, when all I saw were models being used to pass data between persistence and application services. After digging deeper into DDD, I realized how replacing primitive types with domain-specific classes reshaped my understanding of the problem space. What looked like a small coding choice unlocked deeper conversations with domain experts.

This talk explores how seemingly simple Value Objects became my unexpected entry point into domain modeling. Through stories from real projects, I'll demonstrate how Value Objects can be leveraged to build a richer domain model from the bottom up, incrementally introducing Domain-Driven design thinking without overwhelming teams.

By providing practical guidance and examples this presentation helps you to move past analysis paralysis and begin asking the right questions instead of waiting for a time when you have all the answers.

This talk is aimed at software developers at any stage of their DDD journey who want to see how starting small can lead to significant shifts in both code quality, domain understanding and collaboration. You will leave with lots of tips of pitfalls to look out for and improvement possibilities to explore.