Introduction

Every IT engineer has encountered situations where past technical decisions seem questionable. Why was that database chosen? Why is the deployment always done in that specific way? Why is the configuration structured like this?

Without proper context, these choices might seem like mistakes. However, they were likely the best decisions at the time, based on the available knowledge, business needs, and technical constraints.

To avoid repeating past discussions and to ensure continuity, we need a structured way to document and track technical decisions.

Problem

One of the biggest challenges in software projects is understanding past decisions.

Without historical context, decisions can be misjudged as bad choices.
Teams waste time rediscovering reasons behind old solutions.
Lack of documentation leads to inconsistency and technical debt.
This increases the risk of making incorrect assumptions and repeating mistakes.

Idea

A simple way to address this issue is to document technical decisions using a structured, lightweight format.

One effective approach is Architecture Decision Records (ADR), a method of documenting key technical decisions. A lightweight variation, LADR (Lightweight ADR), proposed by Michael Nygard, simplifies this by using Markdown files with minimal structure.

# OPM1: Using ADR for decision records  

## Status  
Accepted / In Progress  

## Context  
Describe the problem, challenges, and constraints.  

## Decision  
Final decision and reasoning.  

## Consequences & Trade-offs 
Impact of this decision, both positive and negative. What are the risks?  

Note: "OPM1" means the first entry for this part of the system (Operating Model).
Using a structured ADR approach, we create a central knowledge repository for technical decisions, helping teams make informed choices and reducing confusion over time.

Resolution

Implementing ADRs provides several benefits:

• Provides a clear historical record of technical decisions, allowing teams to track the reasoning behind past choices.
• Reduces unnecessary debates and confusion.
• Creates a shared knowledge base for teams.

By maintaining a lightweight decision registry, we can ensure better consistency, transparency, and efficiency in software development.

Resources

• Microservices: Up and Running – Ronnie Mitra, Irakli Nadareishvili (Helion)