The author of the piece ("Rand") emphasizes that good developers know one language well and architecture requires a multi-language approach. As a programmer-moved-to-architect I don't find this very convincing. One reason is that being a good PROGRAMMER required me to learn several different languages (and thus several different paradigms). I often wrote Java code that strongly resembled functional programming, and my development skills were better for it.<p>More difficult, I have found, is to adapt to the "build vs buy" choice. As a developer, I generally was asked to build something that could solve the problem. As an architect I am more often asked to decide whether we should build it or we should buy something instead. I have had to train myself to ignore that first instinct which screams "Hey... I know how to do this!!" and replace it with a cold evaluation of whether it is WORTH it to build ourselves.<p>Overall, though, I disagree: I think good programmers can be good architects. But the article raises some interesting points.