Paul Rayner

Will AI kill refactoring? My commit history says otherwise.

Repo: github.com/virtualgeniu...

Commits are 20% dedicated refactoring. No new behavior, just improving the structure of what's already there.

Speed without structure is how you build a codebase that works today and fights you tomorrow.

ContextFlow is now multiplayer.

Share a URL, edit the same context map in real time. No account, no setup. Projects sync to the cloud automatically.

Also new: drag-and-drop team assignment, DDD tooltips on every canvas element, and a visual color legend.

Free OSS: contextflow.virtualgenius.com

Explore DDD 2026 Explore DDD 2026: Software Design Conference in Denver, Colorado, USA for Software Leaders. Practical, cutting-edge talks & workshops.

Explore DDD 2026 tickets are now live 🎟️
25 Early Bird spots. Group discounts available.

📍 Denver, CO
📅 Sept 21–25, 2026

https://exploreddd.com

#ExploreDDD #DDD #SoftwareArchitecture #DomainDrivenDesign

Explore DDD 2026 Explore DDD 2026: Software Design Conference in Denver, Colorado, USA for Software Leaders. Practical, cutting-edge talks & workshops.

A little bird told me something exciting… 🐦

Early Bird tickets for Explore DDD go on sale Feb 23. Only 25 will be released — and they can be combined with group discounts.

If DDD is part of your journey, this is your moment.

🎟️ https://exploreddd.com/

#DDD #ExploreDDD

What is 1+1? Would an AI be broken if it gave an answer other than 2?

If you expect "2" you don't really understand how LLMs work. For at least two reasons.

virtualgenius.com/blog/what-is...

A participant in an EventStorming workshop said: "..this seems quite an involved process, and this was actually the easiest one."

What I said: "The complexity was already there. We just made it visible."

I'm teaching a public virtual EventStorming workshop April 14-17. virtualgenius.com/workshops/

@dddeu.bsky.social is a must-attend event for anyone serious about software modeling & design. Plus, it's in the heart of beautiful Antwerp in June!

This year I'm teaching context mapping hands-on using ContextFlow, my new OSS project. virtualgenius.com/products/con...

Public Workshops | Virtual Genius Join our live virtual EventStorming and Domain-Driven Design workshops. Hands-on training with expert facilitation, small cohorts, and practical exercises you can apply immediately.

When multiple people add the same/similar event during EventStorming, don't immediately merge them.

The duplicates aren't noise. They're telling you something.

I'm running a public virtual EventStorming workshop April 14-17. Details: virtualgenius.com/workshops/

I really enjoyed The Peripheral!

I Almost Lost My Apple Account to the Most Sophisticated Phishing Attack I’ve Ever Seen How scammers weaponized Apple’s own support system to bypass 2FA — and how I barely escaped

Sophisticated phishing attack:

medium.com/@eric.moret/...

😍

Software Analytics - Data-Driven Improvement of Software Quality Here is the complete slidedeck of the complete workshop on Software Analytics. In this workshop we analyze data-driven software systems as well as th…

Just published under Creative Commons BY-SA: the complete slide deck from my 2022 Software Analytics workshop. A deep dive into how data can help us understand and improve software systems. I believe this is becoming even more relevant in the age of AI.

speakerdeck.com/feststelltas...

Sara Pellegrini will talk about killing the aggregate (volume 3).

#KanDDDinsky #KDDD

About Event Sourcing & CQRS with @heimeshoff.bsky.social and @paulrayner.bsky.social in 30 minutes!
youtube.com/live/4idWySy...

Have been looking forward to this talk coming out - had so much fun playing with the loopy causal loop diagrams, check it out 😀

Special thanks to @paulrayner.bsky.social for feedback and advice the night before this one! @dddeu.bsky.social #systemsthinking

In this talk Chris Simon will demonstrate the building of a range of causal feedback loops to visualise the underlying causes of the problems. With such visualisations we can advocate for the practices of technical excellence:
🎬 buff.ly/HADjm2P

ICYMI: I wrote about how your domains and bounded contexts don't map 1 on 1. #DDDesign
verraes.net/2025/08/doma...

😭

No, don't do that! Don't build Microservices that slow it down.

Join @crichardson.bsky.social to learn proven techniques for designing successful microservice architectures.

December 2 - 3 - 4, 2025
Milan, Italy
Sign up 👇

www.avanscoperta.it/en/training/...

Claude Code agents handled the tedious bits while I focused on structure. Not magic, but saved me days of manual work.

Full story: thepaulrayner.com/blog/2025/09/15/cleaning-up-93-grammar-paradigms-with-ai-agents/

Bluesky Alt Text Rating courtesy of cred.blue/alt-text

I have a lot of room for improvement! 😱

EventStorming Timeline Example

Early-bird pricing for my 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 (Oct 7–10) ends 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.

Past attendees have called it:
- “Engaging, insightful, practical”
- “Interactive, fun, eye-opening”

Save $200 now → ti.to/EDDD/eventst...

3 Things the Winners Do with new tech:
1. Deeply understand it
2. Learn how to use its strengths, get around weaknesses
3. Adapt your domain to the tech.
@adamhjk.me #o11yDay @honeycomb.io

We have to change what we do to get the most out of the tech.

Want to send a group? We also have group discounts off both earlybird and regular tickets:

3-5 tickets: $100 off each
6+: $200 off each

EventStorming timeline example

⏰ Final call!

Early bird for my 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 (Oct 7–10, 2025) expires this 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝟭𝟮 𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.

⚡ Save $200 per ticket before the deadline.

👉 ti.to/EDDD/eventst...

Big Picture EventStorming voting example

Collaboration is hard. EventStorming makes it easier.

Join my virtual workshop Oct 7–10, 2025.

⚡ Early bird ends Sept 7 — $200 off.
👉 ti.to/EDDD/eventst...

Learn to model complex domains, align teams & design better solutions.

Arrived in Boston today to facilitate an in-person Big Picture EventStorming workshop tomorrow and Wednesday.

Curious what unexpected connections, ‘aha’ moments, and opportunities will emerge as the shared story is visualized on the wall.

That's when I reach for the ESC key :)

Yes, one of the Claude Code agents is "test automation specialist"

No. I'd not even heard of it. Fascinating!