Coding the Architecture - presentation tag

Speaking at DevWeek 2010

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:09:54 GMT

A quick note to say that I'll be presenting two talks at DevWeek 2010, which is taking place at the Barbican in London next year. Both talks have an underlying theme of improving software quality...

1. Improving quality with an automated build process

This session will look at the development processes in use for an ASP.NET application where quality and consistency have a direct effect on the reputation of the organisation. We'll look at: Subversion and our use of code branches to manage release complexity; Visual Studio and the add-ins we use on a daily basis; NUnit and our strategies for achieving over 90% code coverage through a combination of automated unit, integration and load testing; NAnt and how it allows us to build, test and release code from any of our development branches in an automated and repeatable way; CruiseControl.NET and how it performs continuous integration and testing on all of our development branches.

2. A developer's guide to load testing

Load testing is an often forgotten and seemingly difficult task that many people shy away from doing. It doesn't have to be this way though, with a basic level of load testing often enough to give you confidence that you've satisfied your performance and scalability requirements. This session will look at load testing a website from a developer's perspective. We'll look at the difference between load testing, stress testing and soak testing along with a hands-on demonstration of an open source load testing tool that you can use to get started. If you're building websites in Java, .NET, PHP or indeed any other programming language, this session will show you how easy it is to load test your website.

The latter is a much extended version of the load testing session I presented at Skills Matter earlier this year, where we'll actually go through creating a full load test script with Apache JMeter as well as looking at some of the problems associated with measuring latency when load testing. As always, DevWeek looks to be an excellent conference.

Documenting your software architecture - why and how?

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:39:57 GMT

Another of the sessions that I delivered at the recent Software Architect 2009 conference was entitled "Documenting your software architecture - why and how?" and covered some of the drivers for creating software architecture documentation along with some guidelines on how to do this. As I said in the session, any software architecture documentation should be complementary to the code and describe what the code itself doesn't. For example, it's really hard to identify things like architectural principles, operational aspects and how security works from just the code itself.

As with Broadening the T, I'm going to put one or more essays together that cover the content in more detail. In the meantime, you can view or download the slides.

Broadening the T

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:46:00 GMT

One of the sessions that I delivered at the recent Software Architect 2009 conference was entitled "Broadening the T" and covered the sort of skills and knowledge that I think are needed by hands-on software architects. This included things like seeing the big picture, dealing with non-functional requirements (we focussed on performance and scalability), using patterns at the architecture level, testing architectures, monitoring and diagnosing performance problems. Some concrete advice was given throughout the presentation with Java and .NET being used to give some real-world context.

I have a load of notes on the Keynote version of the slides and I'm going to put one or more essays together that cover the content in more detail. In the meantime, you can view or download the slides.

Also speaking at Software Architect 2009

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:22:22 GMT

As Simon's already indicated, we'll be presenting at Software Architect 2009 in London.

We'll be running the CTA one-day workshop and Simon will be presenting two sessions on some of the skills typically required of software architects.

I'll be presenting a session on my day (and the occasional evening and night) job, working on a financial trading application. The focus will be on the client-side architecture of the desktop application, showing a few examples of how client and server development have similar concerns and solutions, but also where they are different and benefit from different techniques.

We've covered most of these concerns in various posts on this site, from development methodology to service-oriented designs and approaches to logging. With the return of rich applications (albeit "zero install" and/or running in a browser, plugin or mobile device) it's worth considering which design decisions are based on an understanding of this domain or simply inherited from lessons learned working server-side.

The schedule for SA2009 is looking good, so hopefully we'll be able to provide an overview of the discussions and presentations from this year's conference.

Speaking at Software Architect 2009

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:25:12 GMT

I'm pleased to announce that I'm presenting a number of sessions at Software Architect 2009, which takes place at the end of September in London. Here are the details of the sessions I'm presenting and we'll try to organise a CTA user group to coincide with the event. Kevin is also presenting, but I'll let him tell you about that. :-)

First of all, following its continued success, we're again running our 1-day software architecture workshop (which forms the basis of our longer training course). This is a pre-conference workshop and a great way to start the conference for anybody new or unfamiliar with software architecture and the role it has in building better software.

From Developer to Architect

This session is an interactive introduction to software architecture and what it means to be a software architect. It's aimed at software developers who are looking towards their first software architect role, as well as architects that are new to the role. You will gain:

An understanding of what it means to be a software architect, and the role's responsibilities.

An understanding of the trade-offs connected with architectural decisions.

Some experience of what it feels like to be an architect, including gathering non-functional requirements, determining the drivers for architecture, and defining an architecture.

An understanding that, as a software architect, it's okay to do some coding.

Combining presentation, group discussion and group working, throughout the day you'll be solidifying everything you learn by defining the architecture for a small software system. The overall goal is that you can take the experience gained here and apply it to your own projects. No architecture experience required, but software development experience is assumed.

Next up is a session that will look at some of the real-world skills that are needed by software architects today. This takes our view of the role of a software architect and fleshes out the technology aspects of it.

Broadening the T

A breadth of experience is key for successful software architects, but how do you get this and what should you know? In this technical session we'll look at the things every software architect should know, drilling down into the following topics:

Architecture and design patterns

Technologies, frameworks and tools

Designing for and testing non-functional requirements

All of this will done in the context of the Microsoft .NET and Java technology stacks, so you'll get some concrete guidance on what knowledge will help you in your role as a successful software architect.

Finally is a session that expands on Kevin's Sharing Architectures presentation to look at what should be included in an architecture definition. Real-world examples will be presented here to provide some concrete examples.

Documenting your software architecture - why and how?

A description of your software architecture is essential for any project of any size, explaining the rationale behind the design decisions and how the software will work in the real world. Such descriptions should include an explanation of the software structure, the architectural principles adopted, the constraints in force, the platforms on which the system is deployed and an explicit justification of how the architecture satisfies the requirements. A good software architecture document should describe what the code itself doesn't. This session will tell you how to do this.

A developer's guide to load testing - slides

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:40:49 GMT

Thanks to everybody that came along to the CTA user group earlier in the week. The tube strike may had reduced the numbers but we still had some great discussion about load testing. My slides are available to download (~4MB) and if anybody wants to continue the discussion, please feel free to use the Google Group.

A developer's guide to load testing (PDF, ~4MB)

I'll post an update when the Skills Matter podcast/video is available to view online.

Java for .NET developers

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:54:00 GMT

Once again, thanks to everybody that came along to my Java for .NET developers talk at DevWeek 2009 last week. As I said during the session, I wanted to provide a good general overview along with some content that went beyond the basics, which is why I decided to include some slides after the DevWeek books were printed. For those of you not there; the session went through an overview of Java, getting Java, building a hello world application, IDEs and tooling, an Eclipse demo, an overview of Java webapps, some beyond the basics material (JVM flags, garbage collection tuning, monitoring/management with JConsole, ClassLoaders/isolation) and some recommended paths to get started. As I promised, here's the link to download the slides...

An introduction to the Java platform for .NET developers (PDF, ~7.4MB)

Pitfalls for software architects

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:50:00 GMT

Thanks to everybody that came along to my "Pitfalls for new software architects" talk at DevWeek 2009 last week ... I hope you found it a useful look at some of the traps that I've seen people (including myself!) fall into over the years. The pitfalls are structured into a number of different areas as shown in the diagram below.

Each of these areas is part of our view of what a hands-on software architect should do, and the talk itself compliments a session I delivered at Software Architect 2008 called "Why software projects fail". You can download the slides for both sessions below.

Pitfalls for new software architects (PDF, ~4MB)

Why software projects fail (PDF, ~6MB)

The role of the software architect (video, part 1)

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:49:00 GMT

Novantus (a Jersey based cinematic/media production company) and I have recorded a version of my recent BCS Jersey presentation entitled The role of the software architect in successful projects. This video, part 1 in a series of webisodes, introduces the session by presenting some of the reasons behind software project failure and why software architects typically have a bad reputation.

p.s. this presentation is more or less the same as Why Software Projects Fail, which I delivered last year at the "Software Architect 2008" conference.

Speaking at DevWeek 2009

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Although the final schedule has been published for a few weeks now, I'm pleased to announce that Kevin and I are presenting a number of sessions at DevWeek 2009, which takes place at the end of March in London. Here are the details of the sessions and we'll try to organise a CTA user group to coincide with the event.

1. Pitfalls for new software architects

It's a well-known fact that we learn by making mistakes, but why not get a head-start and learn from other people's! The software architecture role involves a depth of technology skills along with a breadth of many other things, including soft skills. Those of us that have driven down Architect Boulevard will know that it's a potted ride and in this session we'll tell you exactly where those pitfalls are. Packed full of real-world advice and quotes from others new to the role, this session will give new and aspiring software architects some solid advice for taking their roles forward.

2. Flex, Silverlight or JavaFX - which should you choose?

Rich Internet Applications are a hot topic at the moment; with Adobe, Microsoft and Sun vying for your attention in a post-AJAX world. But which should you choose? In this session, we'll look at three major RIA platforms - Flex, Silverlight and JavaFX. A common example will be used to demonstrate each of the platforms, additionally acting as a baseline for an unbiased comparison of the code, development paradigm, flexibility, ease of use and so on. Come along and let the RIA debate begin!

3. An introduction to the Java platform for .NET developers

This session presents an introduction to the Java platform and is aimed at anybody with .NET experience. But wait a minute, this is 2009! Why do this now? More and more enterprise projects are turning away from a single technology stack solution and becoming more heterogeneous in nature. If we as technologists are to survive in this ever-changing industry, we need to put any dogma to one side and expand our horizons. We need to start evaluating technologies on their merits rather than simply writing them off through vendor preferences in order that we can provide real business benefit to the stakeholders. As .NET developers, this is your opportunity to get a jump-start into the world of the Java platform, where we'll be taking a look at a number of different APIs, libraries and frameworks, drawing parallels to the .NET framework where applicable.

4. From Developer to Architect

This session is an interactive introduction to software architecture and what it means to be a software architect. It's aimed at software developers who are looking towards their first software architect role, as well as architects that are new to the role. You will gain:

An understanding of what it means to be a software architect, and the role's responsibilities.
An understanding of the trade-offs connected with architectural decisions.
Some experience of what it feels like to be an architect, including gathering non-functional requirements, determining the drivers for architecture, and defining an architecture.
An understanding that, as a software architect, it's okay to do some coding.

Combining presentation, group discussion and group working, throughout the day you'll be solidifying everything you learn by defining the architecture for a small software system. The overall goal is that you can take the experience gained here and apply it to your own projects. No architecture experience required, but software development experience is assumed.