Best Concepts (2025)
Ranked picks for concepts. No "it depends."
Agile
The methodology that turned 'we'll figure it out later' into a formal process, often with more meetings than code.
Full Rankings
Agile
Nice PickThe methodology that turned 'we'll figure it out later' into a formal process, often with more meetings than code.
Pros
- +Promotes flexibility and rapid adaptation to change
- +Encourages continuous customer feedback and collaboration
- +Delivers working software in small, manageable increments
- +Reduces risk by allowing frequent reassessment and course correction
Cons
- -Can devolve into endless meetings and documentation without strict discipline
- -Often misapplied as an excuse for poor planning or scope creep
The architectural equivalent of a thousand tiny monoliths—great for scaling, terrible for your sanity.
Pros
- +Enables independent scaling and deployment per service
- +Improves fault isolation and resilience
- +Facilitates polyglot technology stacks
- +Easier to understand and modify individual components
Cons
- -Introduces complexity in distributed systems and debugging
- -Requires robust DevOps and monitoring overhead
Write tests first, cry later—but at least your code won't break in production.
Pros
- +Catches bugs early, saving debugging time later
- +Forces cleaner, more modular code design
- +Provides a safety net for refactoring
- +Reduces regression issues in long-term projects
Cons
- -Slows down initial development speed
- -Can lead to over-testing trivial code
- -Requires discipline that many teams struggle to maintain
The digital ledger that's either revolutionizing trust or just a fancy way to say 'database' with extra steps.
Pros
- +Decentralized structure eliminates single points of failure
- +Immutable records make tampering nearly impossible
- +Transparent transactions enhance auditability and trust
Cons
- -High energy consumption, especially with proof-of-work systems
- -Scalability issues can lead to slow transaction speeds and high fees
The marketing world's attempt to make sense of chaos. Because guessing which ad made the sale is so last decade.
Pros
- +Provides data-driven insights to optimize marketing spend across channels
- +Helps identify high-performing touchpoints in complex customer journeys
- +Supports strategic decision-making with multi-touch analysis
Cons
- -Models can be overly simplistic and fail to capture real-world complexity
- -Requires clean, integrated data sources which are often a pain to maintain
Head-to-head comparisons
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