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What are RFCs? What purpose do they serve?

RFCs, also known as ‘Request for Comments’, play a crucial role in proposing and deciding on significant changes. They solicit input, suggestions, and feedback on proposed developments or changes.

Their primary goal is to improve technical decision-making. Indirectly, they also foster trust within the team and encourage ownership and accountability among individuals.

When to RFC?

The need for an RFC isn’t always clear-cut. Below are several questions that can assist in determining when an RFC might be necessary:

• Are you launching a new project?
• Are you designing a new feature from scratch?
• Are you proposing the adoption of a new tool, strong dev dependency, or library?
• Will this change have an architectural impact?
• Will this change impact other teams?

A thumbs up to any of these queries means you most likely need an RFC.

About the effectiveness of RFCs