http://ayende.comAyende @ RahienCopyright (C) Ayende Rahien 2004 - 2021 (c) 202660Today, the term architect is so overloaded that my former collegue Michel Baladi ended up opting out of the whole terminology: http://blogs.msdn.com/baladi/archive/2006/07/05/656731.aspx Personally, I love to code, and although I also love software architecture, I shy away from any job position or role involving the work 'architect', as that typically implies that I'm not allowed to write code. http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment13http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment13Mon, 06 Aug 2007 10:47:27 GMTI couldn't more agree with Ayende. I actually just wrote a similar rant on Technical Architects: http://blog.dries.net/2007/08/05/technical-architects/ http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment12http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment12Sun, 05 Aug 2007 18:15:18 GMTWow I didnt realize this had so many diverse opinions. In my personal experience, I've written "scaffolding code", or "interfaces" that contractors or newer guys could flesh out while I write some critical sections of the application. The new guys like it because the interface makes for some strong requirements, and I like it, because I can start to program around it without having to wait for them. I've worked with people that use the word "minions"... they are the sign of a toxic co-worker, everyone should be an equal in terms of respect and attention. http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment11http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment11Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:31:19 GMTApplause! http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment10http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment10Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:43:31 GMTThere is something satisfying about the architect role... You think of a design, collaborate it with developers. Then your designs get done w/o doing any code! those were the days :P http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment9http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment9Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:41:59 GMTFor a Solution Architect to be effective they need to know how to implement the architecture. However an Enterprise Architect doesn't *have* to have a programming background. I've known several that were very effective at their job but have never written a single line of code. It's probably important to differentiate between the two. http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment8http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment8Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:29:21 GMTI remember reading Martin Fowlers discussion on what architecture is in the PoEAA book. I thought he wrapped it up really nicely. He boiled architecture down to being the parts of software that the expert developers consider to be most important, for a given project. So, for business apps, most experienced developers think that persistance is important amongst other things. For a distributed spidering app, you may think that in-depth tracing and logging is highly important. Based on this, an architect is the person who worries about the important stuff. Fowler goes on to discuss the role of the architect, which in his view *does* include coding, requirements etc. It's VERY hands on. This article sums it up nicely, but it's covered in PoEAA too as far as I recall. http://www.martinfowler.com/ieeeSoftware/whoNeedsArchitect.pdf http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment7http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment7Tue, 31 Jul 2007 08:59:44 GMTThere is a nice antipattern describing the point. http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ArchitectsDontCode . As a personal experience, in Italy where I live is actually diffused the idea that if you have a degree in computer science, you should not code at all, but by default you are an architect ( or a project manager, you choose ). I think that a good architect has to program ( or at least love to ), I can't imagine myself with the program background I had 5 years ago ( C++ /MFC ) designing something for the net platform ... http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment6http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment6Tue, 31 Jul 2007 07:41:47 GMTKen, No, they aren't, but I would refuse to hire a Basketball coach who has never played. I don't mind the architect needing a tech lead there to help with some of the code, but the whole attitude is taking it too far. http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment5http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment5Tue, 31 Jul 2007 07:12:57 GMT100% agree - I often have the word 'Architect' somewhere in my job title, but anyone who calls themselves a software architect without the ability to do the real hands on work, shouldn't be telling others how to. @Ken - Brigadier is equivalent to a manager position, not architect, a basketball coach is similarly equivalent to a manager position. An architect is equivalent to the term captain in your examples, and they sure as hell know their jobs and their mens jobs. http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment4http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment4Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:59:37 GMT@Jimmy: +1 @Ayende: An architect should be able to get her hands "dirty" with code. However, she need not be an alpha-developer, and need not know the bits of every method. A brigadier is not the one that can shoot an apple from half a mile with his M-16, Basketball coach usually can't slam dunk or score a three-pointer. http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment3http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment3Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:13:46 GMTWow. That is stunning. I will admit that I spend most of my time applying technology at the higher levels (business strategy, framework selection, etc.) but the truth is that my favorite part of my life is open source contribution and the Design Patterns group hosted by one of development managers. BTW, If I called one of our developers a minion, I hope they kick my ass. David Starr Chief Software Architect Healthwise, Inc. http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment2http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment2Tue, 31 Jul 2007 04:54:03 GMTWe have another word for the architect you're talking about: the "Talkitect". The "talkitect" is responsible for creating "marketecture". He/she has strong arms from all of the hand-waving. http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment1http://ayende.com/2668/theoretical-architects#comment1Mon, 30 Jul 2007 22:13:05 GMT