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What “complexity” means for a development team
Complexity exists at more than one level. A system can contain many components and connections, yet a developer working on one well-bounded service may need to understand only a smaller portion of the code and its change impact. Conversely, a large shared codebase can make many developers contend with overlapping changes and coordination.
Atchison puts the distinction this way: “The application as a whole may be more complex, but the individual piece that a single developer must focus on is substantially less complex.” This is his position in an InfoWorld analysis published December 6, 2021, not a quantified finding. Read Atchison’s analysis.
How microservices may reduce complexity for developers
In a monolith, multiple developers may work in the same codebase, so a change can involve shared code, dependencies, and coordination beyond the immediate task. Dividing an application into services can narrow the area a person or team needs to understand and the potential reach of a change.
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That shifts complexity rather than erasing it. The whole application may require more coordination across service boundaries even as the work inside each service becomes easier to reason about. Atchison proposes that this narrower focus can support stability, quality, productivity, and a better developer experience; the article does not provide measurements proving those effects.
Service sizing is the key trade-off
Service boundaries determine whether splitting the system actually reduces cognitive load. Atchison describes two failure modes:
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- Services that are too small: The growing number of services and connections among them can create more coordination and interaction complexity than the split removes.
- Services that are too large: A service can become a mini-monolith, retaining the internal complexity and shared-change problems the architecture was meant to limit.
The article does not prescribe a universal service size or a numerical threshold. The practical question is whether a service forms a coherent area of work with manageable connections and a meaningful boundary—not whether the service count is high or low.
Architecture and team ownership must fit together
A service boundary helps only if responsibility for it is equally clear. In Atchison’s account, service teams need defined responsibilities, ownership, authority, and organizational support to manage their services. Without those conditions, the architecture can divide code without resolving who makes decisions or handles cross-service work.
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Atchison recommends considering the STOSA organizational model and points to his book, Architecting for Scale, published by O’Reilly Media, for further detail. The article does not establish the book’s current availability or edition.
How to evaluate the trade-off
Before treating microservices as a remedy, assess both the system-wide burden and the work developers actually face:
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- Whole-system complexity: Will the proposed split add substantial service-to-service coordination?
- Developer focus: Will a developer be able to understand and change a bounded area without navigating unrelated parts of the application?
- Change impact and shared code: Will the change affect fewer teams and components, or will dependencies simply move across service boundaries?
- Ownership: Is there a team with clear responsibility and authority for each service?
- Organizational support: Can the organization support teams in operating and maintaining the services they own?
These are decision factors, not a scored matrix or a guarantee of improved outcomes. If boundaries multiply connections or no team can own the resulting services, the split may add complexity without delivering a narrower, more manageable scope for developers.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where software-assisted development fits
Atchison also presents software-assisted development as a possible way to reduce coding and diagnostic burden. His 2021 examples include GitHub Copilot for AI-assisted coding, Datadog and New Relic for developer diagnostics, and OutSystems for low-code or no-code application creation. They are illustrative examples from that article, not a current product comparison, endorsement, or evidence that any named tool measurably reduces complexity.
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