Architectural Types

re: Architectural Types

Adam — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 12:53:00 GMT

Im a Technical Writer formerly known as an Operational Architect.
Occasionally I wear trainers ;)

re: Architectural Types

SBC — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 15:54:00 GMT

good categorization... I wonder if there are any job classification codes (source: Dept of Labor) for these positions.. :-)

re: Architectural Types

PaulB — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 16:45:00 GMT

Senoir developer, who frequently falls into the trap of trying to incorporate too much new technology in my projects, but I'll learn someday.

re: Architectural Types

Ben Dover — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 17:10:00 GMT

And why we have so many issues with software.

re: Architectural Types

Sean Terry — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 19:06:00 GMT

Hmm... I see a bit of myself in each of those.

re: Architectural Types

Ben Dover — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 22:48:00 GMT

Hmm... I see a bit of myself in each of those"

SO, you are openly admitting to being a cross dresser?

re: Architectural Types

Andrew Gayter — Mon, 23 Feb 2004 12:48:00 GMT

But how many companies employ a single person to perform all roles - the classical split of developer, designer and architect is less apparent in modern system development - due to cost AND what I believe to be the misinterpretation of architect i.e. added to someones title to make them feel more important, but pay them the same ;-) Also, due to formulization of architectures and the basic principles being adhered to the process of 'architecture' is less meaningful - many architectures can be applied to the same application e.g. the over rated/stated SOA architectural model is being pushed as being the solution to all our problems - architecture for all, so to speak.

You forgot to mention that architects don't play with code! Or do they?? Also, to be an architect you don't have to come from a comp science background - there are many consultancy companies out there who have architects who originate from other disciplines e.g. English, Geography, Electronics etc. Does a designer make a good architect - not necessarily, but a developer doesn't necessarily make a good designer either.

Finally, are there more architects in the MS space vs Java?? - I suspect there are, but who has the larger, more successful systems MS?

To many cooks ;-)

re: Architectural Types

Luke Hutteman — Mon, 23 Feb 2004 23:36:00 GMT

Of these categories, I probably fall in the "Senior Developers / Designers" category, as I'm not only unwilling to give up doing actual coding, but am of the opinion that architects that haven't coded in years tend to lose their grip on reality and start overlooking important aspects of the design.

Martin Fowler recently came up with another categorisation of architects: http://www.martinfowler.com/ieeeSoftware/whoNeedsArchitect.pdf

Personally, I'd like to be an "Architect Oryzus", but since I work for a company where architects are typically of the "Reloadus" type, I end up being a blend of both types...