Day 31 - Vertical Slice Kickoff
Date: 2025-10-20 (Monday)
Status: “Done”
Lecture Notes
Project Context
Ebook Demo – Vertical Slice 0
- Goal: deliver an end-to-end demo of the book-detail experience before scaling the full system.
- Approach: adopt a Vertical Slice Architecture so every slice is built as a complete feature instead of layer-by-layer.
- Benefits: immediate demos, earlier bug discovery, and tighter coordination between frontend and backend.
Slice Architecture
User → Frontend → API → Database → Response → UI
- Each slice bundles UI, API contracts, backend logic, and demo data.
- Components can be swapped independently without breaking the rest of the system.
Vertical Slice Architecture
Core Principles
- Build features around the user journey instead of isolated layers.
- Keep the scope tight so each slice can demo quickly and gather feedback.
- Define slice ownership clearly to ease future extensions.
Benefits
- Accelerates value delivery—you can show stakeholders right away.
- Lowers integration risk because every slice self-validates.
- Enables multiple slices to progress in parallel.
Key Insights
- Vertical slices act as the foundation before expanding to additional features.
- Each slice needs a clear checklist (finished UI, validated contract, accurate backend responses).
- Treat every slice like a “mini product” with its own lifecycle to keep quality high.
Hands-On Labs
- Define the scope of slice 0 (book-detail flow, minimum viable data).
- Draw the data-flow diagram and nail down the frontend/backend boundary.
- Standardize the demo checklist (contract, mock, UI, backend).