What is Temporal Coupling and How Can Modular Design Reduce It?

Temporal coupling occurs when one piece of code depends on another being executed first — meaning the program only works correctly if things happen in a specific order.
This creates hidden dependencies between functions or modules, making the code harder to understand, test, and maintain.

let user;
loadUser();
showUser(); // Works only if loadUser() runs before this

Here, showUser() depends on loadUser() being called first — that’s temporal coupling.

Modular design helps reduce temporal coupling by organizing code into independent, self-contained modules that handle their own setup and dependencies.
Instead of relying on execution order, each module explicitly receives what it needs through parameters or imports.

function createUser() {
  return { name: "abcd", role: "Developer" };
}

function showUser(user) {
  console.log(user.name);
}

const user = createUser();
showUser(user);

By designing modules this way, code becomes:

Easier to reuse
Less prone to hidden bugs
Simpler to test and maintain

In short:Temporal coupling is a dependency on execution order.
Modular design removes that dependency by making each part of the system independent and self-sufficient.

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