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I see a lot of jobs for 'architects', but this role doesn't fit in with my beliefs. A lot of modern practices eg. Scrum encourage self organizing teams rather than having a leader. I believe teams can work better without an architect.
It seems that an 'architect' or 'lead' would be the next step in my career, but I don't think this is the right title for what I want to do. I think all/most developers should do some architecture design and I think a 'god' role would be too much for one person.
What do people think? What should an architect do?
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Member 4487083 wrote: What should an architect do?
Use design patterns (if you believe the Gang of Four)! 
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to make project like building etc.
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Member 4487083 wrote: What should an architect do?
Whatever he or she is told; most likely design a system, which the programmers then turn into code. Much the same as a biuilding architect.
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Richard MacCutchan wrote: design a system, which the programmers then turn into code
What are senior developers for then? Their knowledge would be wasted if they're just doing what they are told. It's the developers that will be using the architecture so I think it makes sense for all developers to have some input.
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Well it all depends on the company and the management. There are no hard and fast rules.
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Member 4487083 wrote: I think a 'god' role would be too much for one person.
What is considered an 'architect' may vary from company to company, but it does not seem to be a god role. And yes, as a seasoned developer I had to build quite some applications without the help of an architect.
Ever seen anyone work on a whiteboard, throwing patterns around like they are lego-bricks, explaining to a group of developers the implications of each approach? Half an hour further, the blocks on the whiteboard are work-items, we got to work.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Eddy Vluggen wrote: Ever seen anyone work on a whiteboard, throwing patterns around like they are lego-bricks, explaining to a group of developers the implications of each approach? Half an hour further, the blocks on the whiteboard are work-items, we got to work.
No, I haven't seen it. I've never seen an architect capable of that, although I know a few developers who would be. An architect is ultimately just another developer with a different title. In my current team, I think there are a number of good developers who would have good input on what kind of design/patterns to use. On their own, I don't think any single developer on my team would come up with the best solution. Some of the developers on my team are far better than any architect I have seen.
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Member 4487083 wrote: I've never seen an architect capable of that
Then why does he hold the title?
Member 4487083 wrote: although I know a few developers who would be.
The architects at our company are developers. How could one talk about software-architecture if one has no idea how it is built? Being a damned good developer is a prerequisite.
Member 4487083 wrote: I think there are a number of good developers who would have good input on what
kind of design/patterns to use
If you have four and they disagree, things get interesting. Put the architects you meet in a room with that kind of devs and shout that the flame-wars have begun.
Member 4487083 wrote: Some of the developers on my team are far better than any architect I have seen
That may be, but it sounds like you want to generalize your experience to every architect.
Not all dogs bite.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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As has been pointed out Architect is a different animal depending on your perspective. An architect in a major corporate may be the guy who puts together the core design for a system and never codes (almost certainly did code at some time). In a smaller corporate he may be what you consider a Senior Developer,
I call myself a developer architect because I refuse to let go of the coding aspect and am not interested in just putting together solutions for someone else to code.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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If you think of a software architect in terms of a building architect then you're on the right road.
An architect designs the overall system, including interfaces to internal / external systems, the flow of data, the key systems / users etc. They employ top down design and map out the key processes.
If you think of the person who designs the overall system topology in an enterprise SOA system, then that's the architect.
An architect is NOT the lead developer, they are NOT the project manager and they are NOT the scrum-master.
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Hi,
I would like some suggestion on archietecture design.
Here are my requirements
1) I have clients spreaded over multiple locations
2) Their are groups of clients connected to a common server
3) Each server will gather gb of data everyday
4) There is a main server which is connected to every other local server
5) This server will have all the data which the local server will have. local servers will send data to main server.
6) I will be doing analytics on the main server as well as local servers
My main questions are
1) Since this is big data, which database should I consider sql or nosql
2) Where can hadoop fit here?
3) Is there are framework which helps me in sending data from local to global servers
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I am exploring SPA/Angular and all the crap that is required by modern day web development. A colleague, with more experience in this area, is suggesting the data service and the SPA code should reside in the one project. Whereas I want to split it out to a WCF serving up Json formatted data in a separate project.
My justification is that the data will also be consumed by mobile platforms and a separation is valid. The projects tend not to be huge, 20-40 views and generally have a shed load of SP Processing with the results consumed by SSRS and mobile dashboards.
Any recommendation or reading links would be appreciated.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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I am interested in becoming an application architect.
Are there any specific masters degrees that I should pursue?
Does anyone have any suggested reading material, or PluralSight courses I should watch?
I am a senior .net developer with 6 years experience. I also worked in Identity Access Management for 3 years, and am interested in taking this to the next level!
Thanks!
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I found that the best way to learn architectural skills was to get involved in the design and architecture of applications where I work. For example, my company is replacing its legacy COBOL system with a .NET system. I have been heavily involved in the architecture and have advocated an SOA approach using WCF services. I have put together some prototypes to determine if the architecture is a good fit for the application.
Architecture takes years to learn and become expert at, and you need to be comfortable working on large, enterprise systems. The more exposure to have to these sorts of systems, then the greater will be your knowledge.
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Joe Hoppe wrote: I am a senior .net developer with 6 years experience
I'd recommend first hitting 10 years experience.
You'd have to be able to explain the N-tier architecture and it's drawbacks and benefits, how it compares to CLSA, how IIS works, the difference between MVC and MVVM. Then you'd also need to be able to explain when to optimize, or how scalable a given solution is.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Joe Hoppe wrote: application architect
With limited experience you need to specialize in an industry. Learn about the industry and how problems in that industry are solved with software.
You can look for process control books such as Agile and CMM (there is at least one other) both because you probably need some familiarity with process control but also because those tend to relate architectural problems as examples. Rather difficult to find such examples anywhere else.
You might also try reading the following regularly.
http://highscalability.com/[^]
Joe Hoppe wrote: I am a senior .net developer with 6 years experience
I would suggest you learn databases. Certainly SQL. Start with either MS SQL, Oracle or MySQL and then experiment with the others. After that then look at one of the No-SQL databases. Pretty pointless to start with one of those given that they are all different. And better to have some understanding of SQL first before attempting to understand why someone might choose to not use it in the first place.
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Would graduate school help?
I do have three years experience administering identity access management products, which I think is helpful, but indirectly helpful.
These are graft eat ideas that I will be looking into. Thanks!
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Joe Hoppe wrote: Would graduate school help?
I doubt it. Some classes though, if picked carefully, might.
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Hello,
I am looking for someone that can architect a project for me. I want to higher someone to design how the program will work from web page, log in, running, database access and storage. I would love any recommendations on where to find a person that can do that.
Thanks so much
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What do you mean 'architect a project'
A lot of people out there in various 'hats' will be able to draw a 'multi component/layer' project such as you need - architects can be expensive though, and I doubt they would be giving their time free here.
I note you list very little (no) requirements - this is surely where your process would start, and hint, I as an architect would spend a good deal of time understanding your business needs before I could start breaking it down into requirements and thence a solution.
I suggest you start off writing down what it is you wish to capture & store, how long does it need to be stored, what other processes (eg reporting) need to happen to the data. Then think about what abilities you/your company has, ie software & hardware, that may 'shape' what sort of solution you need.
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This is not the right place; you need to try the websites where people are looking for paid work.
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And that's his question about, isn't it?
... recommendations on where to find ...
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Yes I need to know where to find someone or if anyone knows someone.
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