Delete is an obviously destructive operation, but Update is no better. Updates overwrite the data that was once present. What would software look like if the only valid operations were Create and Read?

Historical Modeling is a technique for designing and building software systems that permit only inserts, no updates, no deletes. The only way to "modify" an object is to insert related records. You can then read the state of the object by querying for the presence or absence of those related records. We'll start with the assumption that all records are immutable and indelible. From there, we'll build a set of patterns that yield some surprising benefits.

With a historical model, synchronizing disparate nodes is trivial: just insert what you don't yet have. Building offline-first web applications is easy. Viewing a snapshot of the system at any point in the past is a simple query.

Let's build a historical model together, and see these benefits for ourselves. Let's put aside the assumptions of CRUD applications and discover a whole new set of patterns. Once you master these techniques, you will never destroy data again.

Recorded at Houston TechFest 2017.