From infancy, we use metaphors to make sense of abstract concepts. The metaphors we choose have huge cultural significance, and bring with them both a rich vocabulary for discussing the target concept, and a bag of related concepts. And if we are not careful, we can sometimes believe those related concepts to be true of the real situation, forgetting we are in the land of the metaphor.

So it is with some architectural patterns — notably those that make use of layers. This session will shine a light on some assumptions we make about software when we forget we are in the land of metaphors.