Cleaner Is Not a Reason
Why design arguments go in circles. "Cleaner" and "decoupled" are verdicts, not reasons, and a reason is a fact that would change your mind if it flipped.
Reasons, Not Verdicts: How to Make Software Design Decisions
Most design arguments go in circles because they are made of verdicts: cleaner, simpler, more decoupled. This series replaces them with something you can check. Part one is about why those arguments go nowhere and what a reason actually looks like. Part two is about where to look instead: the concrete things that differ between two options. Part three is the set of questions to ask about what you find, and five checks that tell a real answer from a plausible one. One question, whether an HTTP client should retry, runs through all three.
Compare Things, Not Designs
You cannot compare two designs, only two answers to the same question about one thing. How to find the things by expanding the verb and walking the perimeter.
Twelve Questions, Five Checks
Twelve axes to ask of each item, five checks that tell a reason from a mood, and the retry question worked through to an answer.