6 software design best practices for more flexible, scalable software

Developing great software involves a thorough understanding of the problem to be solved, which informs the creation of comprehensive software requirements and design decisions before any coding begins. Effective software design translates ideas into a plan detailing functionality and construction, addressing questions about programming languages, necessary data, and user access. Adhering to software design principles, such as SOLID, DRY, and KISS, enhances the quality, maintainability, and scalability of the product by ensuring simplicity, reusability, and modularity. These principles help prevent technical debt and ensure that the software behaves predictably and intuitively. While overlapping with software development best practices, which focus on writing and deploying code, software design emphasizes planning and structuring systems to avoid premature optimization and unnecessary complexity. Tools like Retool facilitate the embedding of design principles into software development, promoting consistent and scalable production-ready applications.