SOLID Design Principle

Building Robust Software: Understanding the SOLID Design Principles.

Anagha Shenoy
2 min readDec 17, 2023
Pillars of Software Design

SOLID is an acronym that represents a set of five design principles for writing maintainable and scalable software. These principles were introduced by Robert C. Martin and are widely used in object-oriented programming.

S — Single Responsibility Principle (SRP)
O — Open/Closed Principle (OCP)
L — Liskov Substitution Principle (LSP)
I — Interface Segregation Principle (ISP)
D — Dependency Inversion Principle (DIP)

The SOLID principles aim to create software that is flexible, robust, and easy to understand and maintain.

The brief overview of Each Principle —

  1. Single Responsibility Principle (SRP):
    Definition:
    A class should have only one reason to change, meaning that it should have only one responsibility or job.
    Explanation: This principle suggests that a class should focus on doing one thing and doing it well. If a class has multiple responsibilities, changes in one area may impact another, leading to increased complexity and maintenance challenges.
  2. Open/Closed Principle (OCP):
    Definition:
    Software entities (classes, modules, functions, etc.) should be open for extension but closed for modification.
    Explanation: This principle encourages the creation of code that can be extended to meet new requirements without modifying existing code. This is typically achieved through the use of abstractions (e.g., interfaces or abstract classes) and polymorphism.
  3. Liskov Substitution Principle (LSP):
    Definition:
    Subtypes must be substitutable for their base types without altering the correctness of the program.
    Explanation: If a class is a subtype of another class, it should be able to replace the base class without affecting the correctness of the program. This is essential for maintaining consistency in the behavior of objects and ensuring that derived classes adhere to the contract established by their base classes.
  4. Interface Segregation Principle (ISP):
    Definition:
    A class should not be forced to implement interfaces it does not use.
    Explanation: This principle suggests that it is better to have several small, specific interfaces rather than a large, all-encompassing one. Clients should not be forced to depend on interfaces they do not use, preventing unnecessary coupling and ensuring that classes only implement what is relevant to them.
  5. Dependency Inversion Principle (DIP):
    Definition:
    High-level modules should not depend on low-level modules. Both should depend on abstractions. Abstractions should not depend on details; details should depend on abstractions.
    Explanation: This principle promotes the use of abstractions (e.g., interfaces) to decouple high-level modules from low-level modules. By relying on abstractions, changes in one module do not directly impact the other, making the system more flexible and adaptable to change.

By following the SOLID principles, developers aim to create code that is modular, maintainable, and resistant to the introduction of bugs when new features are added or existing features are modified.

Applying these principles can contribute to the creation of robust and scalable software systems.

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