workflow-orchestration-patternslisted

# Workflow Orchestration Patterns Master workflow orchestration architecture with Temporal, covering fundamental design decisions, resilience patterns, and best practices for building reliable distributed systems. ## When to Use Workflow Orchestration ### Ideal Use Cases (Source: docs.temporal.io) - **Multi-step processes** spanning machines/services/databases - **Distributed transactions** requiring all-or-nothing semantics - **Long-running workflows** (hours to years) with automatic state persistence - **Failure recovery** that must resume from last successful step - **Business processes**: bookings, orders, campaigns, approvals - **Entity lifecycle management**: inventory tracking, account management, cart workflows - **Infrastructure automation**: CI/CD pipelines, provisioning, deployments - **Human-in-the-loop** systems requiring timeouts and escalations ### When NOT to Use - Simple CRUD operations (use direct API calls) - Pure data processing pipelines (use Airflow, batch processing) - Stateless request/response (use standard APIs) - Real-time streaming (use Kafka, event processors) ## Critical Design Decision: Workflows vs Activities **The Fundamental Rule** (Source: temporal.io/blog/workflow-engine-principles): - **Workflows** = Orchestration logic and decision-making - **Activities** = External interactions (APIs, databases, network calls) ### Workflows (Orchestration) **Characteristics:** - Contain business logic and coordination - **MUST be deterministic*