Software Architecture

Software Engineering As A Profession

Software engineering as a profession has some core problems. It is typically lazy, haphazard, undisciplined, and unprofessional. There are reasons for this, both inside and outside the field. Inside the field, software developers and managers are not inclined to engage in structured activities seemingly unrelated to the task at hand (building the system). After all, who wants to create more work for themselves?

Outside the field, business people are not inclined to pay for true disciplined engineering practices. They simply want their system, as fast and inexpensive as possible. The risks vs. rewards have likely never been explained to them.

Mechanical engineers have had hundreds of years of disasters to create discipline. When badly designed planes crash, they kill people. Badly designed software just kills companies.

Software Architecture

Software engineers and business people alike, usually ignore Software Architecture. Plainly put, this is a drastic mistake. Large software systems, like any complex system, cannot be built, run, or modified safely without proper design.

Imagine a company building a skyscraper with no architect or design. A dangerous proposition, to say the least. A software system is often no less complicated; yet companies will plunge ahead on a new system with no architect or design. Again, the cause is likely lack of understanding of how it should be done

You Are In The Software Business

I’ve heard it often said by company executives, “I don’t want to be in the software business”.

I’ve got news for you. You ARE in the software business. All companies today are software bound. Without software, you cannot be competitive. So it would be a good thing to understand what you need when choosing software professionals or building a new system. It will be, after all, the central nervous system of your business.