Feedback on Domain Model – Programmatic, Naïve, or Well-Designed?
Hi all,
I’m currently reviewing the domain model from our seminar (see attached image), and I’d love your input.
Would you describe this domain model as programmatic, naïve, or does it reflect best-practice design principles?
Some of my thoughts and questions:
- Is the model too programmatic? For example, the note in the diagram says “item information is retrieved from inventory system, but in reality should not be modeled to it.” This seems to break the guideline that domain models should represent the reality, not the internal structure of the program.
- Does the model fall into the trap of a naïve domain model? For instance, some class names (like
- Does the model contain a "spider" class? The
Register) feel more technical than domain-specific. My prof. warns against modeling the program rather than the domain.
- Does the model follow design best practices? According to the textbook, a good domain model should:
- Use clear naming conventions (nouns for classes, verbs for associations)
- Avoid modeling attributes as classes (e.g., Amount)
- Include associations that clarify meaning (and avoid “has”/“hasA”)
- Be understandable to domain experts.
Another thing I noticed:- Does the model contain a "spider" class? The
Sale class seems to have a large number of associations, which might make it a spider — a central class with too many responsibilities. If so, should it be refactored into smaller concepts?
I’m especially curious about:
- Whether the associations are meaningful and named well (e.g., “proves”, “pays”, “arrivesWith”)
- If this model would help domain experts understand and communicate requirements
- If it helps or hinders design and maintainability further down the line
Let me know your thoughts! I'd appreciate any references to good or bad examples from the book if you have them.
3 Replies
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Hey @dghf! Please useTIP: Narrow down your issue to simple and precise questions to maximize the chance that others will reply in here./closeor theClose Postbutton above when your problem is solved. Please remember to follow the help guidelines. This post will be automatically marked as dormant after 300 minutes of inactivity.
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Warning: abusing this will result in moderative actions taken against you.Empty domains are bad practice. I miss some cardinalities (around SaleInformation). Discount-Request should be named Discount. "Change" might be a bad choice for a domain since it is a aggregation of other domains, it is no "source of truth" and has the potential of violating the SSOT. Yes, sale looks like a spider, maybe split into "Sale" and "Cart" and "POS" maybe?
Almost every association is meaningful, you should however decide to use verbs only.
SaleID makes the domain looks like a db-model.
Good work anyway!
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