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Software Engineering vocabulary · Architecture, Design Patterns and Graphics

Loose coupling

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In software engineering, loose coupling means: A design in which the parts of a system depend on each other as little as possible, so a change in one part rarely forces changes in the others.

In Turkish: gevşek bağlılık, zayıf bağımlılık

How it is used

The opposite is tight coupling. People say components are 'loosely coupled' or 'tightly coupled'. It is often paired with 'high cohesion', meaning the code inside each part belongs together. Interfaces, events and queues help achieve loose coupling.

Example sentences

  1. Loose coupling between the order and email services means one can go down without breaking the other.

  2. We aim for loose coupling, so modules talk to each other only through public interfaces.

Common collocations

  • loosely coupled
  • tight coupling
  • high cohesion, loose coupling
  • reduce coupling
  • modularBuilt from separate, independent parts with clear boundaries, so each part can be understood, tested, changed or replaced without touching the others.
  • dependency injectionA technique where an object receives the things it needs, such as a database client, from outside instead of creating them itself, which makes code easier to test.
  • interfaceIn programming, a list of methods that a class promises to provide, without saying how they work. More generally, the point where two systems, or a user and a system, meet.
  • microservicesAn architecture in which an application is built as many small, independent services, each with one job, that talk to each other over the network.

More terms: Architecture, Design Patterns and Graphics

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