Separation of Concerns Pattern Overview

When to Use This Skill

One Responsibility Per Component

Every component should do one thing well. Orchestration logic separated from business logic. Testability through clear boundaries. This pattern is the foundation of maintainable systems.

Intent

Separate distinct responsibilities into isolated components with clear boundaries.

Each component handles one concern. CLI presentation lives in cmd/. Business logic lives in pkg/. Tests run without external dependencies. Changes are localized. Systems remain maintainable at scale.

---

Motivation

When to Use This Pattern

You need separation when:

• Testing requires external systems - Database, Kubernetes cluster, container registry
• Changes ripple across unrelated code - Fixing a bug breaks unrelated features
• New team members struggle to understand flow - Control flow crosses multiple abstraction layers
• Multiple concerns mix in one function - Validation, transformation, persistence in single handler

The Cost of Mixed Concerns

// Bad: CLI, business logic, and I/O mixed together
func DeployCommand(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
    // Parsing flags (CLI concern)
    namespace, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("namespace")
    image, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("image")

    // Validation (business logic)
    if namespace == "" {
        return fmt.Errorf("namespace required")
    }

    // Kubernetes client creation (infrastructure)
    config, _ := clientcmd.BuildConfigFromFlags("", kubeconfig)
    clientset, _ := kubernetes.NewForConfig(config)

    // Deployment logic (business logic)
    deployment := &appsv1.Deployment{
        ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: "app"},
        Spec: appsv1.DeploymentSpec{
            Template: corev1.PodTemplateSpec{
                Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
                    Containers: []corev1.Container{{
                        Name:  "app",
                        Image: image,
                    }},
                },
            },
        },
    }

    // API call (infrastructure)
    _, err := clientset.AppsV1().Deployments(namespace).Create(ctx, deployment, metav1.CreateOptions{})
    return err
}

Problems:

• Cannot test without Kubernetes cluster
• Business logic trapped in CLI layer
• Impossible to reuse from CronJob or API
• Flag parsing mixed with deployment logic
• Error handling crosses all concerns

---

Structure

Directory Layout

project/
├── cmd/                    # CLI layer (presentation)
│   └── deploy/
│       └── deploy.go       # Cobra command setup, flag parsing, output
├── pkg/                    # Business logic layer (portable)
│   ├── deployer/
│   │   └── deployer.go     # Deployment orchestration
│   ├── validator/
│   │   └── validator.go    # Configuration validation
│   └── k8s/
│       └── client.go       # Kubernetes client wrapper
└── internal/               # Private implementation details
    └── config/
        └── loader.go       # Config file parsing

Component Responsibilities

Layer	Responsibility	Framework Dependent?	Testable Without External Systems?
cmd/	Flag parsing, output formatting, exit codes	Yes (Cobra)	No
pkg/	Business logic, validation, orchestration	No	Yes
internal/	Implementation details, unexported helpers	No	Yes

---

Implementation

The Orchestrator Pattern

Separate CLI handling from business logic with an orchestrator:

// cmd/deploy/deploy.go - CLI layer
package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os"

    "github.com/spf13/cobra"
    "example.com/pkg/deployer"
)

func NewDeployCommand() *cobra.Command {
    var opts deployer.Options

    cmd := &cobra.Command{
        Use:   "deploy",
        Short: "Deploy application to Kubernetes",
        RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
            // Only CLI concerns here: flag parsing, output, exit codes
            d, err := deployer.New(opts)
            if err != nil {
                return fmt.Errorf("initializing deployer: %w", err)
            }

            // Business logic delegated to pkg/
            result, err := d.Deploy(cmd.Context())
            if err != nil {
                return err
            }

            // Output formatting (CLI concern)
            fmt.Printf("Deployed %s to namespace %s\n", result.Name, result.Namespace)
            return nil
        },
    }

    // Flag binding (CLI concern)
    cmd.Flags().StringVar(&opts.Namespace, "namespace", "default", "Kubernetes namespace")
    cmd.Flags().StringVar(&opts.Image, "image", "", "Container image")
    cmd.MarkFlagRequired("image")

    return cmd
}

// pkg/deployer/deployer.go - Business logic layer
package deployer

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"

    appsv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
    corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
    metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
    "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
)

// Options holds deployment configuration (no CLI framework types)
type Options struct {
    Namespace string
    Image     string
}

// Deployer orchestrates deployment operations
type Deployer struct {
    client    kubernetes.Interface  // Interface for testability
    validator Validator
    opts      Options
}

// New creates a deployer with dependency injection
func New(opts Options) (*Deployer, error) {
    client, err := getK8sClient()
    if err != nil {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("creating client: %w", err)
    }

    return &Deployer{
        client:    client,
        validator: &DefaultValidator{},
        opts:      opts,
    }, nil
}

// Deploy executes the deployment (pure business logic)
func (d *Deployer) Deploy(ctx context.Context) (*DeploymentResult, error) {
    // Validation (business logic)
    if err := d.validator.Validate(d.opts); err != nil {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("validation failed: %w", err)
    }

    // Deployment creation (business logic)
    deployment := d.buildDeployment()

    // Infrastructure call (delegated to client)
    created, err := d.client.AppsV1().Deployments(d.opts.Namespace).Create(
        ctx, deployment, metav1.CreateOptions{},
    )
    if err != nil {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("creating deployment: %w", err)
    }

    return &DeploymentResult{
        Name:      created.Name,
        Namespace: created.Namespace,
    }, nil
}

// buildDeployment creates Deployment spec (business logic)
func (d *Deployer) buildDeployment() *appsv1.Deployment {
    return &appsv1.Deployment{
        ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
            Name: "app",
        },
        Spec: appsv1.DeploymentSpec{
            Selector: &metav1.LabelSelector{
                MatchLabels: map[string]string{"app": "app"},
            },
            Template: corev1.PodTemplateSpec{
                ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
                    Labels: map[string]string{"app": "app"},
                },
                Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
                    Containers: []corev1.Container{{
                        Name:  "app",
                        Image: d.opts.Image,
                    }},
                },
            },
        },
    }
}

type DeploymentResult struct {
    Name      string
    Namespace string
}

Testing Benefits

// pkg/deployer/deployer_test.go
package deployer

import (
    "context"
    "testing"

    "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/fake"
)

func TestDeploy(t *testing.T) {
    // Fake Kubernetes client - no cluster required
    fakeClient := fake.NewSimpleClientset()

    d := &Deployer{
        client:    fakeClient,
        validator: &MockValidator{},
        opts: Options{
            Namespace: "test",
            Image:     "gcr.io/project/app:v1",
        },
    }

    // Test business logic in isolation
    result, err := d.Deploy(context.Background())
    if err != nil {
        t.Fatalf("Deploy() failed: %v", err)
    }

    if result.Namespace != "test" {
        t.Errorf("got namespace %s, want test", result.Namespace)
    }

    // No Kubernetes cluster, registry, or network required
}

---

Consequences

Benefits

Benefit	Impact
Testability	Business logic tests run in milliseconds without external dependencies
Reusability	Same logic callable from CLI, API, CronJob, or Argo Workflow
Maintainability	Changes localized to single concern (CLI changes don't affect business logic)
Team velocity	New developers understand boundaries, know where code belongs

Trade-offs

Trade-off	Mitigation
More files/packages	Use clear naming conventions, documented structure
Interface overhead	Only create interfaces at real boundaries, not everywhere
Initial complexity	Complexity pays off after second feature addition

---

Related Patterns

• Usage Guide: When to apply, common mistakes, anti-patterns
• Implementation Techniques: Interfaces, dependency injection, testing
• Go CLI Architecture: Complete CLI implementation example
• Orchestrator Pattern: Detailed orchestration example
• Fail Fast: Error handling at boundaries
• Prerequisite Checks: Validation separation

---

CLI in cmd/. Business logic in pkg/. Tests run in milliseconds. Changes stay localized. The system is maintainable.

Implementation

The Orchestrator Pattern

Separate CLI handling from business logic with an orchestrator:

See examples.md for detailed code examples.

See examples.md for detailed code examples.

Testing Benefits

See examples.md for detailed code examples.

---

Examples

See examples.md for code examples.

Full Reference

See reference.md for complete documentation.

Related Patterns

• Usage Guide
• Implementation Techniques
• Go CLI Architecture
• Orchestrator Pattern
• Fail Fast
• Prerequisite Checks

References

• Source Documentation
• AEL Patterns