Slashdot Mirror
Coder or Architect?
camusflage queries: "I recently was transitioned into an architectural role by my employer. I had been splitting time with development and architecture, in that order. It appears my new duties put me as an architect first, and a coder second, with the coding being at my request. At not even 28 years old, I'm already a lead developer and have people with twenty years more experience looking to me for coding hints and tips. Over that past year with my employer, I've expended much effort on developing credible relationships with other groups in the organization, sure to carry me far as an architect. Since I've already resolved that management is not a track I want to get into, is architecture my most logical next step? What do I need to do to make sure my skills still remain sharp, as I'll be spending less time in the bits and bytes? Any tips from those who have made the transition from development to architecture (both successfully and unsuccessfully) are appreciated."
At not even 28 years old, I'm already a lead developer and have people with twenty years more experience looking to me for coding hints and tips.
It makes you sound like a real asshole.
Stop getting your hair cut for a while. Then, when it is long enough, get it shaved down the middle and apply mousse to fashion the remaining hair into two pointy shapes.
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Mod up a post Rob doesn't like and you'll never mod again
That's a great combination of fields, coder and architect! You can write CAD software for designing buildings, or figure out exactly how to run your UTP cables, or position the windows so you don't have reflections off your monitors...
Huh?
A *SOFTWARE* architect?
Oh. Never mind.
He's 28 and he hasn't retired yet. Loser.
The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
I'm a 40-something programmer with over 20 years experience. My last job was a dot-com with free soda and stuff, and the one before that had a foosball table. I don't know why but one place is out of business and the other one has laid off from 100 down to 20 or so, and is probably not going to make it because of the September 11th thing.
What I really miss about those places is working with talented young architects. I used to get lots of cool Javascript tips and hints from the 22-year old CTO but now I have to read O'Reilly books (blah). My experience is mainly with lame old-fashioned stuff no one uses anymore, like SQL and C, so I need to work with Extreme XP younger architects so I can understand Java and patterns and other new stuff I didn't learn in my PL/I class back in the 1970s.
Someday I want to be an architect, but mainly I get stuck doing lame requirements and specification work, and writing code. I'm pretty good at finishing programs the younger programmers start on when they get pulled off to something even more rad, or when they get stuck with some stupid detail from the old days when old people like me designed everything wrong.
Now I work at a boring monolith place where all they think about is profit. I don't know how, because almost everyone is old like me, and they are using old-fashioned stuff. We are looking at Linux and PHP and MySQL for a new web site but without an architect to tell us what to do we have to do all this testing and stuff--I keep saying I KNOW it works because I read it on slashdot, but there are programmers and managers even older than me that want to see prototypes before they commit their business to new tools. No wonder they couldn't cut it at a bitchin' dot-com!
Anyway if you decide to be an architect please email me so I can apply for a job and learn some of those hints and tips--I really want to learn Java but I keep getting confused by the CLASSPATH concept.
Good luck dude!
Old guy
P.S. A few years ago I worked with some younger guys who knew lots of C++ tricks, and they had "Wizard" and "Scientist" in their title. Is that like an architect? And after the Rogaine starts to work what kind of haircut should I have (or should I just leave it bald)? What about a goatee or some kind of unusual beard? Will that help?
Marine Biologist.
-- Sigs are for losers
yep. i made CTO by 24 so i dont see why that guy is whining about making architect by 28. maybe he isnt really ready for it.
architecture is something thats there when coding burns you out. its a way of doing interesting stuff while the rest of the grunts sweat it out doing routine coding... of course if youre not competant and you screw up the architecture part you usually get fired. but thats how life is.
It would be very interesting to see a /. poll asking the crowd how many years of experience they have.
All of the college students would lie.
Look ma, I'm a
Dude, do you what a vagina is?
I believe it's a custom part of the female model of homo sapiens. It serves two purposes, one being an input port, the other being an output port. It functions primarily as part of the reproductive process of the species. It was designed for maximum flexibility, yielding to objects both small (like your penis), and large, such as a baby. Typically, the output method of the vagina forces it to operate much closer to maximum spec than does the input method. Like all body parts, it requires regular care and maintenence. Although it is capable of sequential serial input from multiple devices, the controlling system generally prefers utilizing fewer input devices over a longer term. The input/output ratio is heavily weighted towards the input process, as the output process uses many more system resources, both short and long term.
The truth about Scientology, Xenu, and you: Operation Clambake
Anusflange queries: "I recently was transitioned into a humping egotist by my employer. I had been over emphasising my involvement with development and architecture, for some time. It appears my new duties allow me more channels in which to polish my ego. The company has agreed that I can use company headed fax paper with 'Software architect evangalist god' when I only have skills in notepad++. At not even 28 years old, I'm already a self-opinionated wanker and have people with twenty years more experience hoping that I have an accident on the way to work. Over that past year with my employer, I've expended much effort on absolving myself of any responsibity with other groups in the organization, sure to carry me far as an architect. Since I've already resolved that management is not a track I want to get into, whats my best way to masturbate in public? What do I need to do to make sure all the women in the office love me, and all the developers worship my ability with the DOS prompt, as I'll be spending less time in the bits and bytes? Any tips from those who have made the transition from development to architecture are appreciated, but more than anything, I'd love anyone who isn't as fortunate as me, both intellectually, and finacially, to know how well off I am."
That's because, as every anime fan knows, younger people generally get things done better!
Joel Spolsky, another engineer-turned-architect writes thoughtful, entertaining, straightforward essays on these topics and other elements of software management based on his experiences at MSFT (regardless of your opinion of their business practices, they are certainly successful at orchestrating large, complex software projects) and, more recently, at his own company.
This stuff is such good reading that I've converted most of it into Plucker format for browsing on my PalmOS device. You never know when you'll need it for reference or inspiration.
Some personal favorites: The Joel Test of effective s/w development processes, painless software schedules, writing effective (read: convincing) functional specifications, and plenty of other gems.