Software Architect's Handbook

Twelve-factor apps

The twelve-factor app methodology is a set of principles that can be followed when developing applications to be deployed to the cloud. It was originally written by the creators of Heroku, which is a popular cloud platform.

The principles of the twelve-factor app methodology can be used to design and develop cloud-native applications. An application that follows this methodology adheres to certain constraints and conforms to a contract. This gives it a level of predictability that facilitates deployment to the cloud. These factors make scaling easier, maximize portability, and ensure that the application can be continuously deployed.

In his book The Twelve-Factor App, Adam Wiggins describes the twelve factors as follows: ...