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Programming Concepts Intermediate

What is Twelve-Factor App?

A methodology of twelve best practices for building modern, scalable, maintainable software-as-a-service applications.

The Twelve-Factor App methodology (by Heroku co-founder Adam Wiggins) defines best practices for cloud-native applications: 1) Codebase (one repo per app), 2) Dependencies (explicitly declared), 3) Config (stored in environment variables), 4) Backing Services (treated as attached resources), 5) Build/Release/Run (strictly separated stages), 6) Processes (stateless and share-nothing), 7) Port Binding (self-contained web servers), 8) Concurrency (scale via processes), 9) Disposability (fast startup, graceful shutdown), 10) Dev/Prod Parity (keep environments similar), 11) Logs (treat as event streams), 12) Admin Processes (run as one-off tasks). These principles align naturally with container deployments and cloud platforms.

Related Terms

Thread
The smallest unit of execution within a process, allowing concurrent operations to run within a single program.
Garbage Collection
An automatic memory management process that identifies and reclaims memory no longer in use by a program.
Big O Notation
A mathematical notation that describes the worst-case performance of an algorithm as input size grows.
Technical Debt
The implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing a quick solution now instead of a better approach that would take longer.
API Design
The practice of designing application programming interfaces that are consistent, intuitive, and maintainable for developers to consume.
Version Control
A system that records changes to files over time, allowing you to recall specific versions, collaborate, and track history.
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