I have friends that are Software Architects, many are quite good, but to be honest, I’ve never been much for the title.

It looks fancy on a resume but it connotes that one is only focussed on architecture and not on coding.

I.e., focussed on the thinking and not the doing.

I’ve always held the belief that writing code is the only way you get better at design and architecture, you get better from the doing of it, not the designing of it.  And with that said, if we are all thinking and doing we are all doing Software Architecture.  The Architects that do coding and designing are the best ones because they are keeping their hands dirty, laying the bricks that they designed out.

It seems a bit like a term we borrowed from the construction industry that sounded really cool and made really great developers sound even greater?

If I had to pick a term I’d want to bring over, I’d be a Mason – a Software Mason – because people would know what I’m doing, I’m laying the foundation with my code, I’m building security around the important parts of our products, I’m building.

Random thoughts…

Want more? Check out my book Code Your Way Up – available as an eBook or Paperback on Amazon (CAN and US).  I’m also the co-host of the Remotely Prepared podcast.

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1 Comment

  1. Daniel Lanthier Reply

    Architects should code – it is core to the role in my opinion. They probably don’t spend as much time writing day to day features, but they should absolutely code, do code reviews, and make sure that all the pieces fit together. They should also be involved in feature work much earlier than a full development team, but they should stick around until the major risks are removed.

    A code-free architect is more of a Solutions Architect in my opinion. Someone that offers a very high level decision of the arch, and someone that works with other architects in coming up with a solid technical solution, but won’t necessarily be involved into the details.

    In the end though, I’m not one that’s much for titles in any case…. This could all be done by Architects and Technical Leads as well. Depends on the scale of the business.

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