What Does an Architect Do in an Agile Shop? An Agile Architect Explains

I like this quote:<p><i>Perhaps my biggest advantage is that, while I do spend some time coding, when I think about our software I am not constrained by the fear that I will have to implement my own ideas. It may seem crass, but as someone who has worked long years in the trenches I know that there is a subconscious tendency to discount ideas that may have huge long-term benefits if it means a lot of work in the short term.</i><p>Hate to admit it, but it's true. It's something you fight against.

I give him points for being aware of the normal pitfalls of designated architects. But even in a good Agile shop I think it's incredibly dangerous to give somebody an "architect" title.<p>If architecture is one person's job, it means it's suddenly not anybody else's job. Software architecture is a pervasive concern, so everybody should be thinking about it. I think that's much more likely if anybody can notice an architectural issue and is encouraged to take the lead on sorting things out.

The same thing they should do anywhere else, and this has not changed since the days of building cathedrals from stone:<p>1. Design.<p>2. Supporting the implementation effort of the design.<p>3. Governance, i.e. making sure that what was designed is what is delivered.<p>Of course there are many other tasks that a software architect in particular has to carry out, but in my day job I never stray too far from the three fundamentals above.

He sounds more like a PM than an "architect." Is it because he codes and works in an agile shop that he suddenly becomes an Agile Architect?

That sounds like the foreman on the construction site and not an architect.

Hey look, my employer is getting some HN love..

Haha, hey guys, us Agile Ruby guys are so much cooler than those stupid people that don't use Apple MacBook Pros and chill at Starbucks.<p>Sure, they write code and get things done while we talk about how awesome our Ruby code is, but hey, All the cool kids use ruby[1].<p>-- Send from my iPad<p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GpOfwbFRcs" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GpOfwbFRcs</a>

This is the author on the job: <a href="http://tinypic.com/r/2vifkw6/7" rel="nofollow">http://tinypic.com/r/2vifkw6/7</a>