Why I don't believe in software architects
mikhanov.com
Why I don't believe in software architects
1–10 of 56 posts
Re: Why I don't believe in software architects
#2As a software architect for the last ~10 years I have to disagree. His point seems to be that if you get a job as a software architect you'll end doing nothing but meetings and creating UML diagrams. I'm sure there are places like that, I've worked at one (Rational Process - shudder), but there are many places where they need someone who can provide architect level application design, who can see the forest through the trees, who can balance the needs of the business, the 3rd party integrations, and the technology. My current contract role has me providing architecture (usually just a 1-2 page design doc, not often UML), mentorship, and coding some of the trickier stuff.
I still code a lot, but I also have responsibility over the whole software ecosystem and hence some power to decide how things go. I mentor developers, perform code reviews, and work on process improvement too. It's a great role.
Re: Why I don't believe in software architects
#3As a software architect for the last ~10 years I have to disagree. His point seems to be that if you get a job as a software architect you'll end doing nothing but meetings and creating UML diagrams. I'm sure there are places like that, I've worked at one (Rational Process - shudder), but there are many places where they need someone who can provide architect level application design, who can see the forest through t…
I'm sure there are places like that, I've worked at one (Rational Process - shudder)
Thank you for your honesty :)
The bottom line of my post was "beware of the advertise SA positions, they tend not to offer what is usually expected from an advanced position like that".
I also think that a key to being a good SA is to keep writing code, no matter what happens. Looks like this is exactly the case for you.
Re: Why I don't believe in software architects
#4Good systems architecture is crucially important - which is why it should only be done by people who know they can get called at 3AM when it all goes hatstand.
Not the sorts who wave their hands and draw nonsense diagrams on a whiteboard and chuck something that cannot work, ever over the fence to the implementation team and blame their skills when the project fails.
Re: Why I don't believe in software architects
#5As a software architect for the last ~10 years I have to disagree. His point seems to be that if you get a job as a software architect you'll end doing nothing but meetings and creating UML diagrams. I'm sure there are places like that, I've worked at one (Rational Process - shudder), but there are many places where they need someone who can provide architect level application design, who can see the forest through t…
I'm sure there are places like that, I've worked at one (Rational Process - shudder) Thank you for your honesty :) The bottom line of my post was "beware of the advertise SA positions, they tend not to offer what is usually expected from an advanced position like that". I also think that a key to being a good SA is to keep writing code, no matter what happens. Looks like this is exactly the case for you.
I absolutely agree that if you like coding, don't ever stop. It will also make you a better architect.
In my experience, large companies who use Rational will have their architects buried in Rose building UML and writing 150+ page docs all day. Smaller and/or agile/XP companies will be looking for a super experienced coder, who can mentor, and look at the big picture, see the business drivers, etc...
Ideally this sort of thing can be figured out early on in the interview process. "How do your other architects spend their time?" etc...
Re: Why I don't believe in software architects
#6As a software architect for the last ~10 years I have to disagree. His point seems to be that if you get a job as a software architect you'll end doing nothing but meetings and creating UML diagrams. I'm sure there are places like that, I've worked at one (Rational Process - shudder), but there are many places where they need someone who can provide architect level application design, who can see the forest through t…
There should be more people like you.
The biggest problem in our industry is that there isn't enough mentors to tell the young people that they were wrong all this time.
Re: Why I don't believe in software architects
#7As a software architect for the last ~10 years I have to disagree. His point seems to be that if you get a job as a software architect you'll end doing nothing but meetings and creating UML diagrams. I'm sure there are places like that, I've worked at one (Rational Process - shudder), but there are many places where they need someone who can provide architect level application design, who can see the forest through t…
I'm in almost the exact same boat, though I find that much of my job is in just predicting pitfalls, and in anticipating when things won't work.
As a federal contractor for an agency that prefers to use COTS/GOTS software, there is a surprisingly great need for having a developer that can look at a given piece of software, intuit how it works, probe its sales and development teams to say "Well, this claims to do Kerberos authentication, but it really does GSSAPI, and hence, won't work with your existing OpenSSO implementation."
I also code a lot, mentor other developers, etc., and yes, it IS a great role.
Re: Why I don't believe in software architects
#8The practice of architecture is inevitably entangled with one or more notational and representational systems. This is true if you are architecting ships, infrastructure, buildings, or software. Complaining about UML is like complaining about drafting, drafting notation standards, and CAD software.
Re: Why I don't believe in software architects
#9As a software architect for the last ~10 years I have to disagree. His point seems to be that if you get a job as a software architect you'll end doing nothing but meetings and creating UML diagrams. I'm sure there are places like that, I've worked at one (Rational Process - shudder), but there are many places where they need someone who can provide architect level application design, who can see the forest through t…
There should be more people like you. The biggest problem in our industry is that there isn't enough mentors to tell the young people that they were wrong all this time.
:) I think the biggest problem in the industry is that many of the "young people" (I'm still young, dammit!) don't really want to learn or be mentored. Seems like there's a slew of folks in the junior to mid-level developer arena who got into CS because it was going to make them a lot of money, not because they love to code. I love it when I'm working with people who love to tinker with new libraries and APIs, who are working on something neat in their spare time, etc... They make much better developers than folks with a CS degree who do what's assigned to them from 9-5 and that's it. I'm not saying you have to work a ton, but just be interested in the whole tech universe:)
Re: Why I don't believe in software architects
#10Programmers often neglect the fact that not all problems need to be solved with more code. More specifically, there are problems that are better solved at the architecture level. For example, rather than queue jobs in a wonky static variable, use RabbitMQ or Redis. And instead of implementing search functionality through Hibernate, consider a separate stack which you can grow independently of your core application. While you're at it, consider using Solr instead.
I'm not justifying the term software architect (I don't like it for other reasons), I'm simply suggesting that if your infrastructure consists of a single, monolithic application, you need to consider solving some of those problems outside of your code.