Should Architects Code: Round 3

Reading the comments on my previous two posts on whether architects should code (here and here) as well as the comments on Johanna Rothman's posts (here, here and here) leads me to a few observations:

The first apparent thing is that the issue is a very loaded. Some people believe it is essential for architects to code, while others (like me) believe that their time is better spent on other issues. (That said, it seems that a small majority of the commenters think architects should code as part of the development team--at least for feedback purposes if nothing else.)

There is a wide consensus (me included)that architects should know how to code and have extensive experience in coding. It is also agreed that architects should be involved in the project--that is, not just drop off the architecture, then disengage.

I still believe that when the project is big enough (that is, big enough to warrent more than one team working on it) the project is better served by the architect getting involved in all the teams, rather than participating as a developer in one of them. If you are an architect and develop as part of the development team you are (or should be anyway) committed--meaning you need to deliver the piece of code under your responsibility at an acceptable quality level as other developers. Which is exactly why you would be less likely to deliver on your responsibilities for the total quality of the project. I assume some of the differences in opinion can be attributed to disagreement on what software architecture is , at least when compared to design).

I also think those who think architects must code see the architect as some sort of a lead developer again. I don't buy that. The architect's role is much broader than that (see also this post by Kevin Seal, which also discusses this issue). I see a holistic view of the architect role, which is making sure the product is delivererable. This may translate to the architect coding a module or two, but it can also translate to a lot of other things. Examples from my experience as an architect include preparing initial cost estimates, iteration planning, helping debug and testing, solving installation problems, analyzing requirements, conducting design and code review, design, and prototyping (yes, that's coding but as I said in the previous posts, that's not writing the production code and this is not having to meet deadlines etc.).

I also liked a comment by Graham Oakses on one of Johanna's posts :

My experience is that an architect is pulled between three poles--the product, the team and the client. The product pole pulls you towards managing the "conceptual integrity" of the design. The team pole pulls you towards mentoring people, helping them build skills, etc (which may mean consciously letting someone write code that you could do much better yourself). The client pole pulls you towards translating between the technical and the client domains (which is often where you get pulled into powerpoint). You need to trade these poles off differently on every project...

To sum up, the answer to "should architects code? " is like so many things in life is--it depends.

Posted by Arnon Rotem-Gal-Oz at 06:35 AM  Permalink