Software Architecture Definition

Software architecture abstracts a system and the elements consisted in a software defines its structure. Defining the relationship of elements within a software is one of the goals of architecting software. The focal point of is to define how elements of the software interact with each other while avoiding too much implementation detail.

Why should one Architect a Software?

Software Architecture lays out the base of a system. This foundation can have a high impact on the software through time. This impact can impact the quality of the system and how developers interact with the software. This interaction could include time to deliver modules, testability, maintenance, reusability, etc. To successfully deliver a software that lives up to its purpose it is highly recommended to architect it well.

Who might benefit from Software Architecture?

Software architecture is crucial for the software architect's first. It allows one to reason about the decisions that where made and why. Writing software should not be like autonomous, but careful planning and decision making should take place. Other teams involved including: developers, scrum masters, quality assurance, end-users, directors, managers, business analysists and the involved teams. The Software Architecture can have a direct influence on the decision and actions each of these members have to account for. Some of these like the developers should analyze and understand the architecture in depth.

What does a Software Architect Actually do?

A Software Architect should be taking ownership of a software project and see the 'big picture' of how the software is built. They should have the ability to lead the team technically and help evolve the software as necessary.

A Software Architect should be responsible for documenting the software, designing the software and the actual architecture of the software.

In practice the Software Architect should Care Deeply about the software in hand. Many times architects are required to communicate with stakeholders from other teams and defend the decisions that were taken from a software perspective. The effective communication can help architects evolve the architecture as requirements change.

Architects should be curious and up to date with technologies. This is because he should have the ability to create solutions many times more than one to a given task and be able to reason about those decisions.

Conclusion

With some experience as a Software Architect I can state that this role can have major differences between organizations. This could occur due to the company's policies and how the current team is structured. Some organizations may have only one or no architects, others may have several architects with different roles and responsibilities.

I highly recommend that developers work with software architects at some point in their careers to gather experience and learn. For some organizations team leaders and senior developers have put into this position, but the ideal scenario is that many organizations should have this as a role.