The Software Architect's Profession: An Introduction (Software Architecture Series) - Softcover

Sewell, Marc

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130607967 ISBN 13: 9780130607966

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 2001

Synopsis

The software industry is rapidly recognizing that software built according to a plan has a much better chance of accomplishing its short- and long-term goals. The creators of these plans are software architects. They're in enormous demand, but few developers have the requisite skills. In this book, a former Chief Architect for IBM teaches the art and science of software architecture. Drawing on deep metaphors from traditional architecture, this book explains exactly what software architects do, how they behave, and how their profession is coming of age. KEY TOPICS: This book defines the role of the software architect, demonstrating how software architects bridge the chasm that has traditionally separated clients and users from technical professionals. The authors explain how software architecture goes far beyond "software engineering," bringing new clarity to software development. Returning to the analogy of the building architect, they introduce each key phase of architecting a software system or infrastructure, from the earliest "schematics" through design and construction documents, bidding, negotiation, and actual software construction. Understand the temperaments and aptitudes needed by successful software architects; the relationship of architecture to technology; and software architecture's growing status as a formal profession. MARKET: For all developers, software engineers, software architects, and students of software architecture; and for IT managers who want a clearer understanding of the concepts and role of software architecture.

About this title

About the Author

MARC T. SEWELL is an independent software architect and President of Worldwide Institute of Software Architects (WWISA) who has designed software systems ranging from managing banking transactions to trafficking retail products. He has been a systems programmer for Boeing Computer Services, Chief Architect for IBM Corporation, and VP of Information Systems for Morgan Stanley.

LAURA M. SEWELL is a professional writer with essays published in the Washington Post and the Atlanta Journal Constitution, as well as the Department of Defense's Software Technology News. She is the author of the WWISA website and has also been a Rehabilitation Counselor for over 20 years.

From the Back Cover

A transformational guide to the profession of software architecture.

Whether a structure is built of bricks, steel, or computer code, the process begins with an architect and client. Together they arrive at a shared vision―a plan―that the architect guides through the bidding, construction, and implementation phases. The Parthenon and the Empire State Building were built according to architectural designs, but the software industry has been building information skyscrapers without architects. It is time for the profession to become a reality.

Successful software-based technology is designed, then built. It does not "develop." Who creates the design? An enormous grass-roots demand exists for software architects-but a true profession of software architecture is not yet established. Many software professionals adopt the gravitas of the title "software architect," but fail to fulfill the true, classical role. Drawing on deep metaphors from traditional architecture, Marc T. Sewell, President of the Worldwide Institute of Software Architects, and Laura M. Sewell examine the nature of architecture, what defines a software architect, and how the profession is coming of age.

The Software Architect's Profession is lingo-free. It is a book of philosophy that will enable anyone to understand software construction, and it is the first "line in the sand" defining the parameters of this fledgling, yet ancient, e-profession.

Key areas include:

• Bridging the chasm that separates clients from technical professionals
• Differentiating the professions within the software construction industry and defining the roles and accountabilities of software engineers and software "builders"
• Discussing the vocational temperament and aptitudes that characterize architects
• Reviewing the phases of architecture
• Describing the critical role of the client in understanding and validating the design and construction of software

Whether you are a CIO, CEO, IT manager, software professional, or student, you inhabit software structures, and your world is profoundly affected by their design. The Software Architect's Profession offers a simple cognitive map that will change your world view of software architecture, construction, and the information structures we live and work in everyday.

Edition details

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0130607967
• ISBN 13: 9780130607966
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144