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97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know 1st Edition

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In this truly unique technical book, today's leading software architects present valuable principles on key development issues that go way beyond technology. More than four dozen architects -- including Neal Ford, Michael Nygard, and Bill de hOra -- offer advice for communicating with stakeholders, eliminating complexity, empowering developers, and many more practical lessons they've learned from years of experience. Among the 97 principles in this book, you'll find useful advice such as:

Don't Put Your Resume Ahead of the Requirements (Nitin Borwankar)
Chances Are, Your Biggest Problem Isn't Technical (Mark Ramm)
Communication Is King; Clarity and Leadership, Its Humble Servants (Mark Richards)
Simplicity Before Generality, Use Before Reuse (Kevlin Henney)
For the End User, the Interface Is the System (Vinayak Hegde)
It's Never Too Early to Think About Performance (Rebecca Parsons)

To be successful as a software architect, you need to master both business and technology. This book tells you what top software architects think is important and how they approach a project. If you want to enhance your career, 97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know is essential reading.

About the Author

Richard Monson-Haefel , an independent software developer, coauthored all five editions of Enterprise JavaBeans and Java Message Service (all O'Reilly). He's a software architect specializing in multi-touch interfaces and a leading expert on enterprise computing. More detail on his work and writings can be found at www.monson-haefel.com.

ISBN-10

059652269X
ISBN-13

978-0596522698
Edition

1st
Publisher

O'Reilly Media
Publication date

March 17, 2009
Language

English
Dimensions

6 x 0.53 x 9 inches
Print length

220 pages
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ O'Reilly Media; 1st edition (March 17, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 220 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 059652269X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0596522698
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.53 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,107,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #257 in Computer Hardware Design & Architecture
- #415 in Computer Systems Analysis & Design (Books)
- #1,402 in Software Development (Books)

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4.0 134 ratings

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Kevlin Henney
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I'm an independent consultant, international speaker, writer and trainer. I live in Bristol and online.
My software development interests are in patterns, programming, practice and process. As well as contributing to a number of projects, I've been involved in (far too) many committees (for conferences, publications and standards, but as yet I've not been on a committee for committees).
My fiction writing tends to the short side — and occasionally to the dark side — spanning a number of genres.
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Anton D

Huge sense via simple words

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2023

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So simple and so deep. Heavy must!

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Erik Gfesser

97 things by 53 architects

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2009

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There must be something not insignificant about the number "97", as a search for "97 things" retrieves multiple results here, and the follow-up books planned for this series (on project management, etc) have not yet been published. Quite honestly, this reviewer initially had low expectations for this book for various reasons, the least significant reason being the title. One related reason was use of the term "software architect", because this reviewer has both heard and read countless arguments on what "architect" actually means in this space. While some of the authors here allude to the definition of "architect", the one place the reader should probably expect an explanation on this matter is within an introductory chapter or preface. The preface, however, simply indicates that "software architects occupy a unique space in the world of IT. They are expected to know the technologies and software platforms on which their organizations run as well as the business that they serve...a great software architect needs to master both sides of the architect's coin: business and technology". But this statement does not even attempt to define architect. Instead, after reading this book the reader will likely leave with an understanding of a broad range of architect responsibilities communicated by dozens of different architects with varying levels of experience across numerous business industries. In the mind of this reviewer, this aspect might be one of the greatest strengths of this book because even though the 53 authors will probably generally agree on the definition of "architect", the degree to which their thoughts subtly differ on this aspect somewhat reflects what one will find in the workplace, especially when working as a consultant. The formula for this book just works. Some of the entries are admittedly rather light, but some of the entries reflect how much can be communicated in such a brief amount of space (all entries are limited to 2 pages in length). Some entries are probably more suited to software developers than architects, but it is a often a common expectation amongst software professionals that architects have a software development background, so some of this overlap is natural. A cursory review of the table of contents reveals the broad scope of topics presented by the authors, most of whom will probably not be recognized by the average reader. Some of this reviewer's favorite entries include: "Simplify Essential Complexity; Diminish Accidental Complexity", "Chances Are, Your Biggest Problem Isn't Technical", "Simplicity Before Generality, Use Before Reuse", "Architectural Tradeoffs", "Programming Is an Act of Design", "Context is King", "Learn from Architects of Buildings", "Challenge Assumptions - Especially Your Own", "Focus on Application Support and Maintenance", "Shortcuts Now Are Paid Back with Interest Later", "Pay Down Your Technical Debt", "Build Systems to Be Zuhanden", and "You Can't Future-Proof Solutions". This reviewer would like to see some of these entries spin-off into books of their own. By far "Pay Down Your Technical Debt" is the most creative of the lot and could be greatly expanded upon in a title such as that in risk management. Here is an exerpt: "So why the concern over making changes properly now versus later? It's because there's a hidden cost to making these quick and dirty fixes. For financial debts the hidden cost is called 'interest', and most anyone with a credit card knows how expensive just paying the interest on a debt can be. For technical debt, interest takes the form of instability in the system, and increased maintenance costs due to the hacked-in changes and lack of proper design, documentation, and/or tests. And, like financial interest, regular payments must be made until the original debt is repaid". Another reviewer for this book indicated that much of the material provided here is "common knowledge" (see my reply comment to reviewer "nobody"). As a consultant with a fair amount of project leadership, architecture, and development experience, this reviewer has found that this is certainly not the case. Well recommended especially for aspiring architects, although the conspicuous lack of explicit discussion on business and architectural qualities here is a bit of a drawback, so this reviewer refers the reader to "Software Architecture in Practice: 2nd Edition (SEI Series in Software Engineering)" by Len Bass, Paul Clements, and Rick Kazman (see my review for this book). Check out the 97-things wiki; the content of this book is free, and 38 additional entries that were not accepted for publication are also provided.

4 people found this helpful

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Julie in Austin

Nice addition to a library, great for a new architect.

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2019

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I bought this as a “welcome to being an architect” gift for a coworker. I’d read the Kindle version and enjoyed the essay format — each of the “97 Things” is presented as a short essay about key architectural concepts. This is a great book for a new architect, or just something to read over coffee and the latest design change requests from product managers who seek to ruin our lives.

One person found this helpful

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Joe Lynch

Uneven

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2022

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Some items have non-trivial insights. But most are very basic basic observations. Part of it is due to the format of being limited to 2 pages per entry. Part of it is the limitation of coherency/quality when you have so many disparate authors. I do think that a better editorial process could have yielded a more insightful set of observations. I think the format itself caps things at a 4 but the uneven insight takes me to a 3.

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ac in DC

97 Valuable Discussion Points

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2010

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If you buy this book expecting 97 in depth dissertations on software architecture & design, you will be disappointed. It is instead, a collection of observations on the relationships between business, people and technology. This is not a tome that one sits down and reads in a day, acquiring all of the knowledge of the collected contributors in that instant. It is instead a book, which is best read a chapter or two at a time, and discussed amongst your colleagues. Some lessons you will be able to implement immediately, some will not be of value to you ever. Many deal with issues that (as one would expect) will help to make your life easier if implemented in the planning stages of a project. The only thing I would change so far would be to change "Your Customer Is Not Your Customer" to "Your Customer Is Not Your Only Customer" or "Everyone Is A Customer".

I give it 4 stars instead of 5 because as others have noted, it is very lightweight. I do feel that this book would be suitable for most folks in technology to read, not limited to software architects. I would have no hesitation recommending this book to everyone from a Junior Systems Administrator or Project Manager all the way to a Director Of Technology.

17 people found this helpful

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Mahavir Singh

Very good book for architects

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2014

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Very impressive book. For pursuing architect, It gives an expert advise. All experienced architects put their experience in this book.

One person found this helpful

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Rao Venugopal

I want my money back

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2009

Verified Purchase

Heavy on keywords and low on actual content / value.

Imagine your Dad rings you up and says, "Be sure to go to work bright and early..." or "The early bird gets the worm" and proceeds to ramble on for 5 minutes about why that is important. We have all been through this kind of lecture. For politeness sake, you bite your tongue and zone out.

Now replace Dad with Bill Gates/ Steve Jobs/ some famous architect. However the advice being doled out is similar. eg. "Be sure to have a decent UI for every component/ blah blah blah".
How would you feel if you had to read 97 articles by famous architects / tech gurus, each 2 pages long and the entire content of the article is in the first introductory line itself. The rest is fluff.
I don't know about you, but when I am paying 20+ dollars for a book, I expect more than simple fluff.

-V

140 people found this helpful

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Fernando Trinciante

A Must Have!

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2017

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A Must Have!

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Shashank Chattopadhyaya

Great buy

Reviewed in India on October 3, 2023

Verified Purchase

Great quotes from industry experts. Good quality of the book. Very happy with the purchase.

Luca Arpaia

Is a good general starting point

Reviewed in Italy on April 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

Interesting reading, I thought was more technical going forward in reading, however there are very interesting l points to think about

One person found this helpful

Wurstsemmel

Kein Lehrbuch und nichts für Einsteiger

Reviewed in Germany on April 21, 2014

Verified Purchase

Dieses Buch hält, was es verspricht. Es liefert die Gedanken und Ratschläge von erfahrenen Software-Architekten. Alle haben durchweg in verschiedenen Positionen in zahlreichen Unternehmen gearbeitet -- zum Teil mit bekannten Namen. Manch ein Leser wird die Namen der Autoren auch schon woanders gefunden haben.

Die Produktbeschreibung greift den Text des Vorwortes auf und nennt die Titel einiger Beiträge. Man kann leicht erkennen, dass es sich nicht um ein Lehrbuch handelt, dass Begriffe erklärt, Methoden beschreibt, oder in anderer Form strukturiert Kenntnisse beim Leser aufbaut. Nein. Es lohnt sich sehr die Amazon-Buchvorschau zu nutzen und das Vorwort ganz zu lesen -- nur eine Seite lang. Außerdem sind einige Beiträge vollständig zu lesen.

Ich würde das Buch als eine kleine Plauderrunde verstehen. Ein paar Architekten treffen sich nach einer Konferenz auf einige Bier und reden über ihre Erfahrungen. Aus diesen Erfahrungen ergeben sich Ratschläge, worauf man achten kann, und welche Fragen man sich in der Position des Software-Architekten stellen kann. Danach geben sie die Antworten, die sich bei ihrer Arbeit als am hilfreichsten erwiesen haben. Das sind kurze Statements ohne wissenschaftlichen Nachweis. Gedacht, um das Denken über diese Fragen anzuregen.

Man sollte Erfahrung im Beruf der angestrebten Zielgruppe haben, um die Bemerkungen einordnen zu können. Nicht jeder Ratschlag wird sich eins-zu-eins im eigenen Berufsalltag umsetzen lassen. Das muss man erkennen. Aber die kurzen Artikel sind hervorragend geeignet um in einer Pause mal zu hören, was nebenan so läuft. Danach ist man informiert, aber nicht geschult. Das ist die Absicht des Buches, die es ganz ehrlich zu erkennen gibt.

Vor der Zeit des Internet hätte man diese Form vielleicht als Brief-Sammlung veröffentlicht. In dieser Form vermisst man allerdings eine thematische Gliederung. Man kann sich allerdings auf das Sachwortregister stützen, um die für den Leser interessantesten Stellen herauszupicken. Wegen dieser Einschränkung habe ich einen Stern abgezogen.

Rundherum finde ich in dem Buch nützliche Hinweise, die in einem ansprechenden Layout dargeboten werden. Alle Autoren werden vorgestellt, sodass man das Gewicht der jeweiligen Aussage einschätzen kann. Es ist keine vollständige und abschließende Abhandlung zum Beruf des Software-Architekten und will es auch nicht sein. Darum kann ich die ausgeprägte Unzufriedenheit anderer Leser nicht nachvollziehen. Dort erscheint mir die falsche Erwartung vorgelegen zu haben. Ich kann es klar empfehlen.

2 people found this helpful

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tom

le livre à lire absolument

Reviewed in France on February 2, 2014

Verified Purchase

étant donné architecte moi même, ce livre m'a bien aidé à cadrer et segmenter mon expérience.
il est essentiellement la compilation de plusieurs retours d'expériences de plusieurs architectes 'connus'.

je le conseille vivement.

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Alex Ireland

Good checklist for any software architect

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 8, 2012

Verified Purchase

You can't judge a book by its cover but you can certainly ask questions about its title. Why '97 things every Software Architect should know'? Why not 98, 99 or even 100? Well the word on infoq ([....]) is that they wanted a number near 100 so that there would be enough material for a reasonably sized book. Fair enough so... The book contains 97 articles published by a range of software professional expressing their views on various aspects of software architecture. Many of the articles are not very technical in nature and there are - perhaps - a lot of similarities between this book and '12 Essential Skills for Software Architects' where author Dave Hendricksen focusses on non-technical skills essential to be a succseful architect. Other articles probably aren't just things an Architect should know but really things anyone working in Software Engineering could benefit from knowing and thinking about. I even include Project Managers in that!

That said, there are some really enjoyable bits and pieces. My favourite parts:
* Keith Braithwaite's reminding of the architect's need to quantify things. Characteristics such as average response
time should be not be phrased using terms such as 'good' or 'satifactory' but quantified as something like:
'between 750ms and 1,250ms'

* Craig Russell's points about including the human interaction time in any performance analysis. The system
may respond very fast to API calls, but the if the UI is counter-intuitive, it means the user will spend a longer time try to
get his result.

* Michael Nygard advice for engineering the 'white spaces'. Don't just have arrows between components specifying the
communication protocol, describe the performance expectation of interaction e.g. 100 requests per second, response time
250ms 99% of time. Describe how the system will handle overload, bad response times, unavailability etc.

* Mark Richards classification of architectural patterns:
- Enterprise Architecture Patterns: EDA, SOA, ROA, Pipeline architecture
- Application Architecture: Session Facade, Transfer Object
- Integration Patterns: File sharing, RPC, Messaging
- Design Patterns: GoF

* Gregor Hohpe arguments about the 'predictive call-stack architecture' becoming a thing of the past.
In massive distributed systems, it's not so easy to define the order things happen in. Architectures now have
to be able to respond to event in any time order.

* Bill de hOra discussion of inevitable tradeoffs using Brewer's conjecture (CAP) as example.

* Dave Anderson's arguments for the inevitabitly of legacy and preparing your system for maintenance.

So plenty of good advise in a short book that never gets too technical. The role of the architect is not just to be understanding complicated problems but to stand back and look at the big picture, checking for gaps and to ensure the right actions are taken to ensure project success. This means it's not really just about things a software architect should know, but about things a software architect should ensure they do not forget.

3 people found this helpful

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