Modularizing the monolith with Jimmy Bogard

In this episode of PodRocket, Paul interviews Jimmy Bogard about modularizing monoliths, focusing on improving existing systems by creating boundaries within them before considering a transition to microservices. Jimmy differentiates this approach from building microservices first, which can lead to distributed monoliths with performance and transactional issues. The conversation covers defining boundaries by formalizing interactions, security, information, and business logic, emphasizing the importance of understanding the business context and involving stakeholders from various levels. They discuss the need for buy-in from upper management before undertaking modularization efforts, the business drivers behind such initiatives, and the scale at which these conversations become relevant. Jimmy also touches on data models, patterns like dependency inversion, and the potential impact of AI tooling on experimentation and code analysis, advocating for a business-aligned approach to defining module boundaries.