GovindQuestion / Claim
Why do systems break during seemingly safe schema changes without data contracts?
Key Assumptions
- Schemas alone cannot capture semantic meaning or consumer assumptions(high confidence)
- Most production data bugs are caused by semantic drift rather than structural incompatibility(high confidence)
- AI-generated code accelerates schema changes faster than teams can reason about data meaning(medium confidence)
Evidence & Observations
- Production incidents often occur after backward-compatible schema changes that silently alter data semantics for consumers.(personal)
Open Uncertainties
- How effectively teams can enforce and evolve data contracts in fast-moving, AI-assisted development environments
Current Position
Systems fail during safe schema changes because schemas validate structure, while data contracts define meaning, assumptions, and behavioral guarantees that are rarely made explicit.
This is work-in-progress thinking, not a final conclusion.
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