Thinking in System Boundaries

Mental Models for Consistency, Latency, and Failure

By: Abdelfattah Ragab

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Hardcover | 16 January 2026

At a Glance

Hardcover
92 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24 x 0.97

Hardcover

$84.75

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Thinking in System Boundaries explores how real-world software systems fail, not inside individual components, but at the boundaries between them. The book focuses on senior-level mental models for understanding consistency, latency, partial failure, retries, time, events, and organizational boundaries in modern systems. Instead of tools or frameworks, it explains how decisions made at system boundaries shape reliability, user trust, and long-term maintainability. Through practical reasoning and real production patterns, the book helps experienced engineers design systems that survive ambiguity, scale responsibly, and fail safely.

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