What is CQRS And When to Use It

What is CQRS

CQRS stands for Command Query Responsibility Segregation. It's a pattern that performs segregate operations that read data from operations that update data by using separate interfaces. This can maximize performance, scalability, and security. Supports the evolution of the system over time through higher flexibility, and prevents update commands from causing merge conflicts at the domain level. At its heart is the notion that you can use a different model to update information than the model you use to read information. For some situations, this separation can be valuable but beware that for most systems CQRS adds risky complexity.

The mainstream approach people use for interacting with an information system is to treat it as a CRUD datastore. By this, I mean that we have a mental model of some record structure where we can create new records, read records, update existing records, and delete records when we're done with them. In the simplest case, our interactions are all about storing and retrieving these records.

The CQRS Structure

As our needs become more sophisticated we steadily move away from that model. We may want to look at the information in a different way to the record store, perhaps collapsing multiple records into one, or forming virtual records by combining information for different places. On the update side, we may find validation rules that only allow certain combinations of data to be stored, or may even infer data to be stored that's different from that we provide.

As this occurs we begin to see multiple representations of information. When users interact with the information they use various types of representation. Developers typically build their own conceptual model to manipulate its core elements. If you're using a Domain Model, then this is usually the conceptual representation of the domain. You typically also make persistent storage as close to the conceptual model as you can.

This structure of multiple layers of representation can get quite complicated, but when people do this they still resolve it down to a single conceptual representation. And it acts as a conceptual integration point between all the presentations.

The change that CQRS introduces is to split that conceptual model into separate models for update and display, which it refers to as Command and Query respectively following the vocabulary of Command Query Separation. The rationale is that for many problems, particularly in more complicated domains, having the same conceptual model for commands and queries leads to a more complex model that does neither well.

Models Separation 

By separate models we most commonly mean different object models, probably running in different logical processes, perhaps on separate hardware. For example, let consider a simple web site, and typical user. The user sees the web page that had been rendered with the query model. If they initiate a change it is routed to the separate command model for processing, the resulting change is communicated to the query model to render the updated state.

There's room for considerable variation here. The in-memory models may share the same database, in which case the database acts as the communication between the two models. However, they may also use separate databases, effectively turning the query side's database into a real-time Reporting Database. In this case, there needs to be some communication mechanism between the two models or their databases.

The two models might not be separate object models, it could be that the same objects have different interfaces for their command side and their query side, rather like views in relational databases. But usually, when I hear of CQRS, they are clearly separate models, that means each command responsible only and only for a single operation and change the state, it also is known as state mutation. From the other side, we have a query, that does not change the state, also known as immutable behaviour.

CQRS and Other Architectural Patterns

    CQRS naturally fits with some other architectural patterns.

• As we move away from a single representation that we interact with via CRUD, we can easily move to a task-based UI.
• CQRS fits well with event-based programming models. It's common to see a CQRS system split into separate services communicating with Event Collaboration. This allows these services to easily take advantage of Event Sourcing.
• Having separate models raises questions about how hard is to keep those models consistent, which raises the likelihood of using eventual consistency.
• For many domains, much of the logic required when you're updating, so it may make sense to use Eager Read Derivation to simplify your query-side models.
• If the write model generates events for all updates, you can structure read models as Event Posters, allowing them to be Memory Images and thus avoiding a lot of database interactions.
• CQRS is suited to complex domains, the kind that also benefits from Domain-Driven Design.

When to Use CQRS

Like any pattern, CQRS is useful in some places, but not in others. Many systems do fit a CRUD mental model, and so should be done in that style. CQRS is a significant mental leap for all concerned, so shouldn't be tackled unless the benefit is worth the jump. While I have come across successful uses of CQRS, so far the majority of cases I've run into have not been so good, with CQRS seen as a significant force for getting a software system into serious difficulties.

    1. Bounded Context in DDD lingo

In particular, CQRS should only be used on specific portions of a system (a Bounded Context in DDD lingo) and not the system as a whole. In this way of thinking, each Bounded Context needs its own decisions on how it should be modelled. So far I see benefits in two directions. Firstly is that a few complex domains may be easier to tackle by using CQRS. I must stress, however, that such suitability for CQRS is very much the minority case. Usually, there's enough overlap between the command and query sides that sharing a model is easier. Using CQRS on a domain that doesn't match it will add complexity, thus reducing productivity and increasing risk.

    2. Handling High-performance Applications

The other main benefit is in handling high-performance applications. CQRS allows you to separate the load from reads and writes allowing you to scale each independently. If your application sees a big disparity between reads and writes this is very handy. Even without that, you can apply different optimization strategies to the two sides. An example of this is using different database access techniques for reading and updating.

If your domain isn't suited to CQRS, but you have demanding queries that add complexity or performance problems, remember that you can still use a Reporting Database. CQRS uses a separate model for all queries. With a reporting database you still use your main system for most queries, but offload the more demanding ones to the reporting database.

Summary

Despite these benefits, you should be very cautious about using CQRS. Many information systems fit well with the notion of an information base that is updated in the same way that it's read, adding CQRS to such a system can add significant complexity. I've certainly seen cases where it's made a significant drag on productivity, adding an unwarranted amount of risk to the project, even in the hands of a capable team. So while CQRS is a pattern that's good to have in the toolbox, beware that it is difficult to use well and you can easily chop off important bits if you mishandle it.

You can find our experience in the usage of one more controversial technology in the article about Ionic development. Hope, you may find it useful too!