[dsp1234]

In the section that you mention, the author of the article is comparing techniques for dealing with local function calls vs microservices over the network, specifically in regards to the fallacy that the network is reliable.

With respect to local functions, I think most developers would agree that defensive programming is well-regarded (otherwise this browser would crash on half the web pages I visit).

With respect to distributed system, basically the rest of that section agrees with you, concluding with:

"In fact, using a middleware or services layer that forces engineers to think about their resilience strategies in the face of network failures is quite valuable. After all, the engineers are the best people to decide how a system should behave when things go wrong."

So you basically just re-iterated what the author wrote.

[HillRat]

Also, isn't Hystrix a good example of defensive programming in a services environment? Seems to work well for Netflix.