5.0 KiB
5.0 KiB
Python Backend Architecture Review Checklist
This checklist serves as a quick reference for conducting comprehensive architecture reviews.
System Architecture
- Architecture style matches scale and complexity
- Service boundaries are well-defined
- Communication patterns are appropriate
- No unnecessary over-engineering
- Single points of failure identified and addressed
- Dependency management is clear
- Framework choice is justified (FastAPI/Django/Flask/etc.)
- Async patterns are properly utilized where needed
Database Architecture
- Database type selection is appropriate
- Schema is properly normalized/denormalized
- Indexes are strategically placed
- Sharding/partitioning strategy exists if needed
- Read replicas planned for scale
- Caching layer is implemented
- Connection pooling is configured
- N+1 query issues are prevented
- ORM choice is appropriate
- Migration strategy is defined
- Backup and DR plans exist
API Design
- API design pattern is consistent (REST/GraphQL/gRPC)
- Endpoints follow naming conventions
- Versioning strategy is defined
- Authentication/authorization is implemented
- Rate limiting exists
- API documentation is auto-generated
- Error handling is consistent
- Pagination is implemented
- Input validation uses Pydantic or similar
- OpenAPI/Swagger documentation exists
Security
- Authentication mechanism is secure (JWT/OAuth2)
- Authorization model is well-defined (RBAC/ABAC)
- CORS is properly configured
- CSRF protection is enabled where needed
- Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS)
- Data is encrypted at rest where needed
- Secrets management solution exists
- SQL injection is prevented (parameterized queries)
- XSS protections are in place
- Security headers are configured
- Dependency scanning is automated
- Password hashing uses bcrypt/argon2
- Audit logging is implemented
- Rate limiting prevents abuse
- Input sanitization is thorough
Scalability & Performance
- Scaling strategy is defined (horizontal/vertical)
- Load balancer is configured
- Auto-scaling rules exist
- Caching strategy is multi-layered
- Background jobs use queue system (Celery/RQ)
- Long-running tasks are async
- Database connection pooling is optimized
- ASGI server is production-ready
- GIL limitations are addressed
- Performance monitoring is in place
- Load testing has been conducted
Observability
- Structured logging is implemented
- Log aggregation is configured
- Metrics are collected (Prometheus/StatsD)
- Distributed tracing exists (OpenTelemetry)
- Error tracking is configured (Sentry)
- Health check endpoints exist
- Alerting rules are defined
- Performance baselines are established
- Business metrics are tracked
- Dashboards are created
Deployment & Infrastructure
- Dockerfile is optimized (multi-stage)
- Container orchestration is configured
- CI/CD pipeline is automated
- Environment parity exists (dev/staging/prod)
- Infrastructure as Code is used
- Deployment strategy is safe (blue-green/canary)
- Rollback procedure is defined
- Configuration is externalized
- Secrets are managed securely
- Dependencies are pinned and managed (Poetry/PDM)
Code Organization
- Project structure is clear and logical
- Module boundaries are well-defined
- No circular dependencies exist
- Dependency injection is used appropriately
- Configuration management is centralized
- Type hints are used throughout
- Tests are well-organized (pytest)
- Code follows PEP 8 standards
- Linting/formatting is automated (Ruff/Black)
Resilience
- Retry logic exists for external calls
- Circuit breakers protect external services
- Timeouts are configured appropriately
- Graceful degradation is implemented
- Error handling is consistent
- Dead letter queues exist
- Bulkhead patterns separate concerns
- Rate limiting protects resources
Testing
- Unit tests exist (>80% coverage)
- Integration tests cover critical paths
- API tests validate contracts
- Load tests verify performance
- Security tests check vulnerabilities
- Test fixtures are reusable
- Mocking is used appropriately
- CI runs tests automatically
Documentation
- API documentation is complete
- Architecture diagrams exist
- Setup instructions are clear
- Configuration is documented
- Deployment process is documented
- Code has docstrings
- README is comprehensive
- Contributing guidelines exist
Compliance & Standards
- GDPR compliance addressed if applicable
- HIPAA compliance addressed if applicable
- SOC 2 requirements met if applicable
- Data retention policies defined
- Privacy policies implemented
- Audit trails exist
- 12-Factor App principles followed