Software architect

A software architect is someone who performs high-level design work on computer software, typically at a whole system or large application level. In an organization where multiple such individuals operate, the lead individal is referred to as the chief architect.

History

The software architect concept began to take hold when object-oriented programming or OOP, was coming into more widespread use (in the late 1990s and early years of the 21st century). OOP allowed ever-largerTemplate:Quantify and more complexTemplate:Quantify applications to be built, which in turn required increasedTemplate:Quantify high-level application and system oversight.

Duties

The role of software architect generally has certain common traits:Template:According to whom

Architects make high-level design choices based on their experience on making low-level coding experience. An architect has thought through all the aspects of a software, just like an architect that builds a house. A construction architect knows where the ducts will be, where the electric connections will be and where the water outlets will be. A design that a common person sees is just the walls and windows but a detailed design that is abstracted from the outsider are also present with the architect. In addition, the architect may sometimes dictate technical standards, including coding standards, tools, or platforms.

Software architects may also be engaged in the design of the architecture of the hardware environment, or may focus entirely on the design methodology of the code.

Architects can use various software architectural models that specialize in communicating architecture.

Other types of IT-related architects

The enterprise architect handles the interaction between the business and IT sides of an organization and is principally involved with determining the AS-IS and TO-BE statesTemplate:Explain from a business and IT process perspective. Unfortunately^{Dubious - discuss.} many organizations are bundling the software architect duties within the role of enterprise architecture. This is primarily done as an effort to "up-sell" the role of a software architect and/or to merge two disparate business-related disciplines to avoid overhead.Template:POV statement

An application architect works with a single software application.

Other similar titles in use, but without consensus on their exact meaning, include:

• Solution architect, which may refer to a person directly involved in advancing a particular business solution needing interactions between multiple applications. May also refer to an application architect.
• System architect (singular), which is often used as a synonym for application architect. However, if one subscribes to Systems theory and the idea that an enterprise can be a system, then System Architect could also mean enterprise architect.
• Systems architect (plural), which is often used as a synonym for enterprise architect or solution architect.

The table below indicates many of the differences between various kinds of software architects:

Architect type	Strategic thinking	System interactions	Communication	Design
enterprise architect	across projects	highly abstracted	across organization	minimal, high level
solutions architect	focused on solution	very detailed	multiple teams	detailed
application architect	component re-use, maintainability	centered on single application	single project	very detailed

In the software industry, as the table above suggests, the various versions of architect do not always have the same goals.Template:Self published inline

See also

• Electrical engineering
• Electronics engineering
• Electronics engineering
• Hardware architecture / hardware architect
• Requirements analysis / requirements engineer
• Software architectural model
• Software architecture
• Software engineering / software engineer
• Systems architecture / systems architect
• Systems design
• Systems engineering / systems engineer

References

External links

• International Association of Software Architects (IASA)