Comments on: Becoming a Java Architect!?

By: Veera

Veera — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:09:13 +0000

Thanks Amos for the asking.

I’m currently into the tech track in my project and learning the things bit by bit. I’m sure becoming a architect is a long journey. Even though I’m going slow, but I’m on the right track.

By: Amos

Amos — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:43:43 +0000

Hi Veerasundar…

Nice to see ur blog.
So… what you are upto now.
How far you have succeded and what are ur achievements on techincal line.

By: Soren

Soren — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:56:15 +0000

Yeah, sure, Go ahead..

By: Veerasundar

Veerasundar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:06:40 +0000

Hi Soren,

Currently I am in a plan to move towards the Technical architect skills, in which I am more interested. I am sure that the certification you had mentioned earlier in your comment will definitely help me in getting more architectural knowledge.

I have to work on it.

By: Soren

Soren — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:02:53 +0000

So what you have decided now ?

By: md

md — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:49:55 +0000

Don’t become an architect, it is corporate bullshit. You are headed into a meaningless engineering career. Trust me, when you drop out of the corporate naming scheme, you will become a good engineer. Only work for companies that hire real engineers, not career programmers, and definitely not architects. One year of industry experience is nothing, focus on developing, then let them suck you into “architecture” …

By: Veerasundar

Veerasundar — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:07:14 +0000

Hi Scott, Armen, Steve and Soren

Thanks for sharing your views.

Steve,

I agree with you. I should have used the word software architect, instead of Java architect. But, as I am working in Java now, I prefer using the term ‘Java Architect’.

By: Soren

Soren — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:45:47 +0000

If you want to become a “Java architect”, just take the exam:
http://www.sun.com/training/certification/java/scea.xml

Otherwise, “architect” is many things, differently defined in each organization. Technical architect, enterprise architect, etc, etc .. Figure out what you need for the architect skill in your organization, and work towards that. As others have pointed out, probably only few organizations honor 1 year experience as an architect

Finally, decide if its really what you want. My experience with architects is not always good. See eg. http://softwarecreation.org/2007/do-we-need-software-architects-10-reasons-why-not/

Cheers,
Soren

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:14:04 +0000

Step 1 is get rid of the idea of being a ‘Java Architect.’ It’s not about the technology, it’s about understanding business requirements and technology, and being able to bridge the gap between them. To do this you have to get beyond a single technology as a solution and have a broad array of skills and technologies at your disposal.

Communication skills are extremely important. I don’t mean just being able to talk and write. You need to be able to listen and you need to be able to adapt to your audience. You might work really well with developers, but if you can’t work effectively with product managers or sales people all bets are off.

And, of course, being a top-notch developer helps Seriously, there is a reason why good architects are far and few between…

Apart from that, the way to move up in the ranks is to establish a strong trust relationship between you and the higher-ups. Make yourself known and make your aspirations known. Show them you understand the business and know how to use technology appropriately. But even more important that having the right ideas is you *MUST* execute on them consistently. If they know you, trust you, and are absolutely confident you’ll get things done more responsibility will head your way, guaranteed.

By: Armen Demirjian

Armen Demirjian — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:43:15 +0000

Read the book Head First Object Oriented Analysis and Design, It helps.