From 2,500 Lines to Microservices: My Huawei Telecom Software Journey

Early Spark

More than a decade ago, I never imagined a product could change a life. In 2000, the educational electronic dictionary Wenquxing released the revolutionary CC800, which supported VB programming and could run programs directly. As a high‑school student, I wrote my first program and created a simple game, opening a Pandora’s box of possibilities and pulling me into the world of code.

From Classroom to Huawei

My passion for software guided me to study computer science in university and join Huawei’s communications product software department in 2007. I quickly realized I knew nothing about signals, rates, or coding conventions—essential knowledge for a communications product—making me feel like a "software novice" in a new field.

During a six‑month internship I spent the first week learning terminology, the second week studying code frameworks and signaling, and was thrust into a real feature development after just two weeks. I wrote 2,500 lines of clean, well‑named code for a controller that became a critical component ensuring smooth 3G calls.

Facing a Critical Bug

In 2010 a version release caused a massive network reset issue, crippling service in a region. The fault traced back to a line of our code lacking proper protection parameters. We worked around the clock to locate the bug, fix the protection, and then coordinate patches for all affected sites, enduring customer anger and skepticism while restoring trust.

Embracing Microservices

By 2016, micro‑service architecture was hailed as a breakthrough that could dramatically reduce development and maintenance costs compared with monolithic systems. I saw an opportunity to apply this to a 300,000‑line legacy communications product. Our ten‑person team set out to refactor the code into multiple services of 20,000–30,000 lines each.

We broke the work into tasks, let team members bid on them, and faced initial confusion and resistance. I acted as the chief designer, constantly researching, aligning with other architects, and guiding developers through code reviews. Frequent revisions forced the project manager to plead for more adjustments, but the team persisted.

After three months we completed the micro‑service conversion, reducing daily integration effort from 56 person‑days to just 2. Developers praised the newfound speed and agility, and the project earned me a personal gold award.

Engineering as Music

Just as the simple yet profound "Canon in D" has inspired countless works, engineers should strive for simplicity and elegance in software architecture. By treating engineering like composition—seeking timeless, resonant designs—we can create systems that endure and inspire.

Source: "Huawei People"