Why One-Line Fixes Touch Ten Files: The Hidden Force of Change Coupling
Change Coupling: Why One-Line Fixes Touch Ten Files
Change Coupling reveals which parts of your codebase change together, even without direct references. It explains why a simple bug fix can cascade into a dozen files. The article presents a 2x2 matrix of physical vs. change coupling to identify areas to consolidate, split, or monitor, and warns against silver-bullet fixes like microservices or event-driven architectures that ignore the underlying forces.
If you change two things at the same time, they are change coupled, regardless of what those two things are or where they live.