The Structural Problem with Modern Systems

Over the last two decades, backend architectures have evolved in complexity without evolving in coherence. The industry has increased the number of layers and components that a single application must integrate:

• A relational/document/graph database
• ORM or type-mapping layer
• Validation library
• Authentication and authorization logic
• Workflow system
• Logging and observability stack
• API server
• Code-generation scripts
• Multi-tenancy middleware
• File storage service
• Vector search engine
• Encryption library
• Audit/provenance systems

Every one of these layers must be kept aligned with the application's domain model.

However:

• The domain model is usually represented inconsistently across layers.
• Validation and type rules differ between client, server, and storage.
• Security and audit rules must be duplicated and are easily misapplied.
• Data models drift over time, producing subtle bugs.
• Multi-tenancy is retrofitted rather than foundational.

The modern backend is a collection of loosely coupled subsystems, all depending on fragile assumptions about the domain.

This results in:

• Higher cost
• Longer development cycles
• Inconsistent behavior
• Security and privacy gaps
• Reduced reliability
• Difficulty achieving compliance