Software Architecture For Developers with Neal Ford

Summary

Whether it is intentional or accidental, every piece of software has an existing architecture. In this episode Neal Ford discusses the role of a software architect, methods for improving the design of your projects, pitfalls to avoid, and provides some resources for continuing to learn about how to design and build successful systems.

Preface

• Hello and welcome to Podcast.__init__, the podcast about Python and the people who make it great.
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  • There is still time to register for the O’Reilly Software Architecture Conference in New York. Use the link podcastinit.com/sacon-new-york to register and save 20%
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• With many thanks to O’Reilly Media, I have two items to give away. To sign up you just need to subscribe to the mailing list at podcastinit.com and you will have the chance to win either a copy of Neal’s book, Building Evolutionary Architectures, or a Bronze ticket to the O’Reilly Software Architecture Conference in New York. I will be picking the winners on February 21st.


• Your host as usual is Tobias Macey and today I’m interviewing Neal Ford about principles of software architecture for developers

Interview

• Introductions
• How did you get introduced to Python?
• A majority of your work has been focused on software architectures and how that can be used to facilitate delivery of working systems. Can you start by giving a high level description of what software architecture is and how it fits into the overall development process?
• One of the difficulties that arise in long-lived projects is that technical debt accrues to the point that forward progress stagnates due to fear that any changes will cause the system to stop functioning. What are some methods that developers can use to either guard against that eventuality, or address it when it happens?
• What are some of the broad categories of architectural patterns that developers should be aware of?
• Are there aspects of the language that a system or application is being implemented in which influence the style of architecture that is commonly used?
• What are some architectural anti-patterns that you have found to be the most commonly occurring?
• Software is useless if there is no way to deliver it to the end user. What are some of the challenges that are most often overlooked by engineering teams and how do you solve for them?
• Beyond the purely technological aspects, what other elements of software production and delivery are necessary for a successful architecture?
• What resources can you recommend for someone who is interested in learning more about software architecture, whether as an individual contributor or in a full time architect role?

Keep In Touch

• Website
• @neal4d on Twitter

Picks

• Tobias
  • Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
  • Lost City of Z



• Neal
  • DeveloperToArchitect.com
  • EvolutionaryArchitecture.com
  • Broken Earth Series

Links

• Thoughtworks
• Neal’s Blog
• Lisp
• Thoughtworks Technology Radar
• Martin Fowler: Who Needs an Architect?
• O’Reilly Software Architecture Conference
• Soft Skills
• Microservices
• Building Evolutionary Architectures
• Github: Move Fast and Fix Things
• Continuous Delivery
• Github Scientist
• Laboratory (Scientist in Python)
• Agile Development
• The Accidental Architect
• System Quality Attributes
• Pipes and Filters
• MapReduce
• Hadoop
• Service Oriented Architecture
• Linux
• DevOps
• Configuration Management
• React
• Alibaba Open Source
• Baidu Open Source
• Pragmatic Programmer
• Trunk Based Development
• PlantUML
• Visio
• Mermaid Diagrams
• Graphviz
• Evernote
• Software Architecture Fundamentals
• Enterprise Integration Patterns
• Architectural Katas

The intro and outro music is from Requiem for a Fish The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA