Commented Literature and Online Sources for DDD

This list provides a (subjective) list of articles, books, and online sources for DDD.

• The Core Books
  • Evans, E. (2003). Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software (1 edition), Addison-Wesley
  • Vernon, V. (2013). Implementing Domain-Driven Design (01 ed.), Addison Wesley
  • Vernon, V. (2016). Domain-Driven Design Distilled (1st ed.), Addison-Wesley
• Further Relevant Articles and Books
  • Fowler, M. (2014). Bounded Context, martinfowler.com
  • Samokhin, V. (2018). DDD Strategic Patterns: How to Define Bounded Contexts. DZone Microservices, dzone.com
• Modelling DDD
  • DDD Crew (2023a). Domain-Driven Design Starter Modelling Process
  • DDD Crew (2023b). Core Domain Charts
  • Tune, N. (2020). Core Domain Patterns. Strategy, Architecture, Continuous Delivery, and DDD
  • DDD Crew (2023c). Domain Message Flow Modelling
  • DDD Crew (2023d). Bounded Context Canvas
  • Bente, S. (2022). Context Map
  • Esposito, D., & Saltarello, A. (2014). Discovering the Domain Architecture
  • Plöd, M. (2020). Visualizing sociotechnical architectures with Context Maps
• EventStorming
  • Bente, Stefan (2020). Shopping List for an EventStorming Big Picture Workshop
  • Bente, Stefan (2022). Cheat Sheet for an EventStorming Big Picture Workshop
  • Brandolini, A. (2021). Introducing EventStorming, Leanpub
  • Brandolini, A. (2020). Remote EventStorming, Avanscoperta Blog
  • DDD Crew (2022). EventStorming Glossary & Cheat sheet
  • Gil, M. (2023). Awesome EventStorming - Material Collection on GitHub
  • Rayner, P. (2022). The EventStorming Handbook, Leanpub
• All the Rest :-)

The Core Books

These are the core books for DDD. If you are into this design approach, you should own them.

Evans, E. (2003). Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software (1 edition), Addison-Wesley

• The quintessential DDD book, which got it all started
• … also called the “blue book”
• Not an easy read, but necessary to understand the core thinking behind DDD
• To my knowledge not available in a digital format (at least not legally)

The canonical source for DDD is Eric Evans’s book. It isn’t the easiest read in the software literature, but it’s one of those books that amply repays a substantial investment.

Fowler, 2014

Vernon, V. (2013). Implementing Domain-Driven Design (01 ed.), Addison Wesley

• … also called the “red book”.
• A great companion to the “blue book”, since it clarifies aspects not sufficiently explained in the “blue book”, like aggregates and domain events
• Somewhat closer to an implementation of DDD concept, although still in quite abstract way - which is good since it aged relatively well (2013)
• Available as an affordable eBook (epub), although (alas) not in our TH Köln library

Vernon, V. (2016). Domain-Driven Design Distilled (1st ed.), Addison-Wesley

• … the lesser known “green book”
• Essentially a condensed version of the “red book”
• Also available as an even more affordable eBook (epub) - and no, I don’t earn any money by this link -, but not in our TH Köln library

Further Relevant Articles and Books

Fowler, M. (2014). Bounded Context, martinfowler.com

• https://martinfowler.com/bliki/BoundedContext.html
• A great introduction to the concept of bounded contexts and context maps, in the usual “Fowler manner”
• Sums up the idea of bounded contexts, and their depiction in context maps, in a very compact and concise way

Samokhin, V. (2018). DDD Strategic Patterns: How to Define Bounded Contexts. DZone Microservices, dzone.com

• https://dzone.com/articles/ddd-strategic-patterns-how-to-define-bounded-conte
• An alternative explanation of bounded contexts, and how they relate to (sub-)domains

Modelling DDD

DDD, as in the books of Evans and Vernon, is a consistent set of concepts and terms, but it does not prescribe a specific process for arriving at a DDD-conformous design. The sources below try to fill that gap.

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Overview

DDD Crew (2023a). Domain-Driven Design Starter Modelling Process

• https://github.com/ddd-crew/ddd-starter-modelling-process
• Great process framework for DDD modelling and implementation
• See dedicated infopage for more details

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Core Domain Charts

DDD Crew (2023b). Core Domain Charts

• https://github.com/ddd-crew/core-domain-charts
• Usage of Core Domain Charts as part of the DDD Starter Modelling Process
• It is used for prioriting (sub-)domains by categorizing them into core, supporting, and generic domains

Tune, N. (2020). Core Domain Patterns. Strategy, Architecture, Continuous Delivery, and DDD

• https://medium.com/nick-tune-tech-strategy-blog/core-domain-patterns-941f89446af5
• In-depth explanation of how to categorize (sub-)domains into core, supporting, and generic domains
• See also glossary entry for these terms for more details
• There is also a method to put this on a chart, as part of the DDD Starter model

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Domain Message Flow Modelling

DDD Crew (2023c). Domain Message Flow Modelling

• https://github.com/ddd-crew/domain-message-flow-modelling
• Part of the DDD Starter Modelling Process
• It is a notation that allows you to depict data / control flow in between bounded contexts and (external) systems
• See method description in dedicated infopage

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Bounded Context Canvas

DDD Crew (2023d). Bounded Context Canvas

• https://github.com/ddd-crew/bounded-context-canvas
• Part of the DDD Starter Modelling Process
• It is a compact notation, summarizing the constituents of a bounded context
• See method description in dedicated infopage

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Context Map

Bente, S. (2022). Context Map

• Summary of Context Maps
• (Download PDF)
• Still in German, as I haven’t translated it yet.

Esposito, D., & Saltarello, A. (2014). Discovering the Domain Architecture

• In: Microsoft .NET - Architecting Applications for the Enterprise (2nd edition). Microsoft Press.
• https://www.microsoftpressstore.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2248811&seqNum=3
• An alternative domain example, and a different way of depicting a context map

Plöd, M. (2020). Visualizing sociotechnical architectures with Context Maps

• https://speakerdeck.com/mploed/visualizing-sociotechnical-architectures-with-context-maps
• Great explanation of what context maps are

EventStorming

Strictly speaking, EventStorming is a method that can be used without explicit references to DDD, and for purposes outside software engineering. However, from a DDD (or general software design) perspective, EventStorming is a great tool to explore the business domain, and for onboarding the develoment team and all relevant stakeholders.

Bente, Stefan (2020). Shopping List for an EventStorming Big Picture Workshop

• (Download PDF)
• Buying Post-Its in the color scheme that Brandolini requires is a surprisingly challenging task.
• This shopping list compiles the most relevant sticky types (or proposes replacements for them, if certain types/colors are unavailable in Germany)
• It also reflects the restrictions of buying such material at TH Köln, given the limited choice of approved suppliers

Bente, Stefan (2022). Cheat Sheet for an EventStorming Big Picture Workshop

• (Download PDF)
• My personal experience running several EventStorming workshops with students

Brandolini, A. (2021). Introducing EventStorming, Leanpub

• https://leanpub.com/introducing_eventstorming
• The standard book on EventStorming, by its inventor
• A must-have for anyone who wants to use EventStorming

Brandolini, A. (2020). Remote EventStorming, Avanscoperta Blog

• https://blog.avanscoperta.it/2020/03/26/remote-eventstorming/
• EventStorming profits enormously from being conducted in a physical space, with all participants in the same room.
• This blog post explains why, and what you can try remotely (not the Big Picture workshop!), if you have to.
• See also a dedicated section in the EventStorming infopage on this server.

DDD Crew (2022). EventStorming Glossary & Cheat sheet

• https://github.com/ddd-crew/eventstorming-glossary-cheat-sheet
• Another EventStorming cheat sheet, this time by the DDD Crew

Gil, M. (2023). Awesome EventStorming - Material Collection on GitHub

• https://github.com/mariuszgil/awesome-eventstorming
• Huge collection of EventStorming material, including books, articles, videos, people, and other resources

Rayner, P. (2022). The EventStorming Handbook, Leanpub

• https://leanpub.next/eventstorming_handbook
• Alternative book on EventStorming, by Paul Rayner

All the Rest :-)

These sources didn’t fit in any of the above categories. Yet, they are relevant and useful sources for further reading.