Modularizing web applications

Question

I was wondering how big companies tend to modularize components on their page. Facebook is a good example:

There\'s a team working on Search that has it

Answer 1

From my experience, no matter how well you try to standardize everything, for big teams complete coherence, with everyone doing the same things the same way is almost impossible.

Don't try to solve the problem at the "standards level" or the "how to" level... solve it at the human level, at the management level.

We use a couple of techniques to maintain coherence at the management level:

• Maintain the tools for the developer to inform the rest. That includes Wikis, internal discussion forums and so on.
• Have enough middle management available. No body can be aware of everything but it makes sense for a person to be aware of everything that is at his level. That way the User Management group can sync with the Security group and the Security Group can be in sync with the Content Management group. The mission of this middle management is to know enough about everything, the do not need to know every detail, just enough to pass it the knowledge where it should be.
• Add levels as you see fit, but in every level there should be one person looking up everyone is doing more or less the same things. He will be in charge to raise alarms if two groups are doing things in completely different ways.
• Maintain a good information flow. Having standards is important but allowing people to actually KNOW they exits is even better and ensuring they use them, through code revision and weekly meeting is completely needed if you want to keep doing things rigth.

I know a lot of people do not like "management". They think is an extra layer that does nothing. Well, that ain't true. Management helps to solve problems like exactly this. Help to communicate big teams and have a general view of what's happening... there are a lot of "techniques" to define a standard on how to do things... all that techniques fail when there isn't a human being making sure people follow know and follow those standards.