Conscious Decoupling: The Future of Web Development

When Gwyneth Paltrow and husband Chris Martin began their now-famous “conscious uncoupling,” their hope was to reimagine divorce: It was less about the breakup and more about their (paradoxically) improved ability to work together effectively where it mattered (e.g., raising the children).

A similar principle underlies the concept of a “decoupled” web architecture, in which the front end (what the user sees and interacts with) is separate from the back end (the data and business processes that feed the front end). Separating the front and back ends enables each to be designed and maintained optimally, with no fear of how changing one may affect the other. Using simple communications protocols, the front and back can talk to each other and work together with precision and efficiency—more effectively, in fact, than if they were truly intermingled.

The traditional architecture is coupled and monolithic: the entire technology stack (front end and back end) exist as one cohesive codebase sharing the same resources. Now, “cohesive” sounds like a good thing, and this approach does provide administrators the apparent advantage of being able to work within a single system. However, the consequence of this cohesiveness is a sort of “butterfly effect” in which a seemingly innocuous change in one area may turn out to have a significant and unintended impact elsewhere in the system. Developers use the term “brittle” (or sometimes more colorful language) to describe a codebase that lacks flexibility and resists efforts to adapt, evolve or otherwise change it in a meaningful way. Traditional architecture has an inherent tendency towards brittleness.

In the decoupled web architecture, frontend and backend code are separate, with no shared resources. The two codebases communicate, but each has its own server instance. The backend application serves data via an API (application programming interface) using a framework such as JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). A decoupled approach is advantageous for facilitating changes, enabling individual services and components to be independently scaled up or down or removed entirely without disrupting the entire application. Additionally, decoupling allows frontend and backend developers each to optimize their portions without fear of how their work impacts the rest of the system. Developers in general prefer the decoupled approach as it tends to remove production bottlenecks, simplify testing and make for a more easily reusable backend codebase.

A headless CMS can be thought of as a subset of a decoupled web architecture. As in the standard decoupled approach, the frontend and the backend are two separate entities, two individual server instances. In headless, however, there is additional separation of content from the endpoint (the “head”), essentially abstracting the substance of the content from the form in which it is presented. The headless approach enables the delivery of content to a range of devices, e.g., web, mobile, wearables, set-top boxes. This “write once, publish anywhere” approach is increasingly desirable as user expectations continue to move towards being always on, always connected, with content available in an appropriate format no matter what device is used.

The real-world benefit of the decoupled approach was evident in March of 2020, when the pandemic arrived. VShift client Freddie Mac, a giant in housing finance, needed to respond quickly, helping mortgage servicers and lenders make sense of the critical policy and program changes that would shape how they interacted with struggling borrowers and the prospect of a housing market meltdown.

VShift created the Client Resource Center, a hub for all relevant Freddie Mac communications. The CRC enables Freddie Mac’s clients and partners to: 

• Aggregate all vital communications in one place 

• Customize topics and select types of information they received

• Dramatically reduce the flood of redundant, disjointed communications

• Be certain they have all relevant information on any subject of interest

Leveraging the reusable component-based architecture and headless CMS VShift had built previously, this massive content management undertaking was rolled out in a matter of weeks, giving Freddie Mac Single-Family and its business partners the ability to get out in front of a potentially catastrophic housing crisis and stave off a massive wave of foreclosures.

While decoupling is not without its tradeoffs, it has been our experience that the benefits greatly outweigh any drawbacks. Users enjoy a richer experience, while both backend and frontend developers can flex their muscles and push the technology—and their imaginations—as far as they can go. Equally important, your business can be more responsive, with greater speed and agility, unleashing the organizational creativity that too often is handcuffed unnecessarily by technical or process concerns. You too will likely discover the happy paradox that separating enhances everyone’s ability to work together.