Maintainable

Mike Bowers, Chief Architect at FairCom, has spent decades navigating the evolution of database technology. In this conversation, he and Robby explore the challenges of maintaining a 40+ year-old codebase, balancing legacy constraints with forward-thinking design, and the realities of technical debt.Mike shares how FairCom transitioned from ISAM-based databases to modern JSON-driven APIs, the trade-offs between strict schemas and flexible document stores, and how software architecture plays a critical role in long-term maintainability. He also explains why human-readable JSON simplifies debugging, how documentation-driven development improves API usability, and why many software teams struggle with refactoring at the right time.Topics covered[00:05:32] The role of software architecture in long-term maintainability[00:10:45] Why FairCom's legacy ISAM technology still matters today[00:14:20] Transitioning to a JSON-based API for modern developers[00:19:40] The challenges of maintaining 40+ years of C code[00:24