Sylvia Fronczak, Author at NDepend

Should Architects Write Code? You Bet They Should!

There’s a common misconception that’s permeated our profession: Architects don’t need to write code to do their jobs.

Now, this may seem like a harmless approach. After all, writing code is what developers do. And architects should be busy with more important tasks.

However, keeping architects from writing code can limit the potential of your development teams. It can also result in an architectural mess when requirements and business needs change.

So today let’s look at why giving your software architect time to write code is a good thing. But first, we’ll start off by looking at what life is like as an architect.

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Onion Architecture: Going Beyond Layers

So you’ve read about the Onion Architecture and think you get it. There are layers in this architecture. They’re onion-like. And they make your code better.

But how? And what do you put in each layer? And how the heck do you get your repository to be on the outermost layer of this onion?

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Programming to an Interface: A Simple Explanation

As an architect, you know that programming to an interface is good. It’s what everyone should do.

But what does that mean? And why should you do it?

Searching the Internet for answers might only cause more confusion. There, you’ll find people arguing over what “programming to an interface” really means. And how everyone else is wrong about it. Yet everyone’s definition sounds pretty much the same. But is supposedly different. Somehow.

Let’s remove the confusion and break it down. In this post, we’ll look at what it means to program to an interface and why you should do it.

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layered_architecture_solid_aproach_ndepend

Layered Architecture: Still a Solid Approach

Layered architecture gets a lot of flack.

Even though it’s still the most prevalent architecture, we view it as an anti-pattern. It’s old, not scaleable, and anti-SOLID. It encourages (shudder) monoliths!

Yes, I know. Hexagonal architecture is the way to go. Or maybe I’m feeling a taste for onions. But only if it’s clean!

The point is that even though it may not be an object-oriented nirvana, layered architecture is still a useful pattern. And if done right, it paves the way towards more advanced designs and architecture.

So let’s talk about layers.

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