Hendricksen - 12 More Essential Skills for Software Architects

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Dave Hendricksen

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hendricksen, Dave, 1964 author.
12 more essential skills for software architects / Dave Hendricksen.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-321-90947-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Software architectureVocational guidance. 2. Computer software developersLife skills guides. 3. Career development. I. Title. II. Title: Twelve more essential skills for software architects.
QA76.76.D47H466 2015
005.1'20023dc23

2014021582

Copyright 2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by copyright, and permission must be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission to use material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, or you may fax your request to (201) 236-3290.

ISBN-13: 978-0-321-90947-3
ISBN-10: 0-321-90947-X

Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at RR Donnelley in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
First printing, August 2014

To my wife, Jennifer, my son, Tim, and my daughter, Katie.

Architecture is not a profession for the faint-hearted, the weak-willed, or the short-lived.

Martin Filler

Architecture and building is about how you get around the obstacles that are presented to you. That sometimes determines how successful youll be: How good are you at going around obstacles?

Jeremy Renner

Architecture is a service business. An architect is given a program, budget, place, and schedule. Sometimes the end product rises to artor at least people call it that.

Frank Gehry

Architecture is invention.

Oscar Niemeyer

I loved logic, math, computer programming. I loved systems and logic approaches. And so I just figured architecture is this perfect combination.

Maya Lin

I think about architecture all the time. Thats the problem. But Ive always been like that. I dream it sometimes.

Zaha Hadid

The Internet is probably the most important technological advancement of my lifetime. Its strength lies in its open architecture and its ability to allow a framework where all voices can be heard.

Adam Savage

Book Motivation

This book and my first book (12 Essential Skills for Software Architects) focus on the skills needed to become a successful software architect.

Software architecture is about learning how to relate to people and learning how to think about things with an eye toward architecture. 12 Essential Skills for Software Architects focused on soft skills; without these, the rest of the journey is nearly impossible.

Shortly after I completed my first book, I began receiving questions about the assumed technical skills (shown in ) that are referred to but not discussed.

Figure P.1 Twelve essential skills for software architects

This book dives into the details of those assumed skillsthe technical skills you need on a daily basis in the role of an architect. It is the combination of soft and technical skills that will enable you reach your goals.

Book Goals

My goals for this book are to

Enable excellence in software architecture through skills development

Enable architectural success in a business context

Promote an architectural approach for thinking about the enterprise

Book Organization

The format and style of this book are intended to help evoke critical thinking about your specific set of projects, your areas of architectural oversight, and your areas of direction-setting leadership. These take the form of project skills, technology skills, and vision skills.

These three areas are organized as follows:

. These skills enable you to drive projects from early ideation to project delivery through

Partnership ()

Discovery ()