pullprincipe

Pullprincipe is a term used in discussions of software architecture to denote a pull-based design principle whereby system components request data, tasks, or events from other components rather than having information pushed to them. Rooted in the broader dichotomy of push versus pull models, the pullprincipe emphasizes control for the consumer, decoupling producers from consumers and enabling backpressure to prevent overload.

In practice, pullprincipe underpins patterns such as polling for data, pull-based message consumption from queues, and demand-driven data synchronization. It is often associated with Kanban-style workflows, where work items are pulled by teams as capacity becomes available, rather than pushed by upstream processes. The principle also informs architectural choices in distributed systems and microservices, where services may fetch data on demand and use backpressure signals to regulate flow.

Benefits of applying the pullprincipe include improved resilience to load spikes, greater decoupling, and clearer backpressure handling. It can also reduce wasted work by aligning data fetching with actual demand. Challenges include higher latency for end users, potential complexity in orchestration, and the need for robust caching and consistency strategies to avoid stale data.

See also the push model, pull model, backpressure, Kanban, event-driven architecture, polling, and fan-in/fan-out patterns.

References would include standard works on pull-based systems, queue-based messaging, and Kanban literature.