In recent years, Domain Driven Design (DDD) has become a buzzword in the software development community, often surrounded by discussions focused on its tactical patterns: entities, value objects, repositories, services, aggregates, and more. This mainstream portrayal of DDD has, unfortunately, done a disservice to the software community. The emphasis on these complex patterns has led many to view DDD as overly complicated and inaccessible, particularly for projects that appear to have simpler domains. The question arises: why entangle your project in the web of DDD's tactical patterns if they seem unnecessary?
The Misguided Focus and Its Consequences
The vast majority of content and discussions available online revolve around DDD's tactical aspects, obscuring its true essence and benefits. This skewed focus has made it easy to lose sight of what DDD fundamentally aims to achieve: the strategic advantage of clearly defined boundaries within your domain, encapsulated by the concept of a bounded context. Unfortunately, for many newcomers to DDD, the bounded context—the cornerstone of DDD's strategic patterns — is not what they first encounter. Instead, they are introduced to DDD through tutorials or sample applications that dive straight into its tactical patterns without establishing a foundational understanding of the domain itself.