New book: “97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know”
Software architects occupy a unique space in the world of IT. They are expected to know the technologies and software platforms on which their organizations run as well as the businesses that they serve. “A great software architect needs to master both sides of the architect’s coin: business and technology,” says Richard Monson-Haefel, editor of 97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know. “This is no small challenge, and it’s why this book was created.”
According to Monson-Haefel, the slim volume of two-page, easy-to-digest essays provides advice from software architects around the world on everything from how to avoid common pitfalls to how to build talented teams. He calls it a smorgasbord of advice from established software architects for other software architects or those who aspire to become software architects.
“The book is completely different from any other book you’ve read,” says Monson-Haefel, who describes it as an open source book in the truest sense. “It is the combined work of more than four dozen authors, all of whom donated their thoughts and advice about software architecture.” Each author wrote his or her own contributions, which were then examined and edited, and the best contributions were chosen for publication. “That’s not much different than an open source software project where individuals contribute code rather than knowledge and wisdom.”
Among the 97 principles in the book, readers will find such advice as:
- Don’t Put Your Resume Ahead of the Requirements (Nitin Borwankar)
- Chances Are, Your Biggest Problem Isn’t Technical (Mark Ramm)
- Communication Is King; Clarity and Leadership, Its Humble Servants (Mark Richards)
- Simplicity Before Generality, Use Before Reuse (Kevlin Henney)
- For the End User, the Interface Is the System (Vinayak Hegde)
- It’s Never Too Early to Think About Performance (Rebecca Parsons)