There are jobs that need to be done in software engineering. How you divide it in roles and responsabilities change from company to company. Having an architect or not, just move the responsability of that role to someone else.
You gave the example that you went from Jquery front end to being a generalist that “knows and learns everything”. Is that the solution to every company? I’ll say it to you: it’s not.
Every company, every team, every product and every person is different. There is no solution fits-all, specially only because you had this experience in the past, it does not mean it works for everyone.
This article is an invitation to rethink those roles and question their necessity. Whether an individual company or individual manager/engineer chooses a different path is irrelevant because this is the internet and YMMV. 🙂
Just wanted to say, this is an incredible and well-written article, that puts into words exactly how I feel, several years into my career as a developer who became an architect.
I actively try to avoid becoming an ITA, but annoyingly, my other architect peers resent me for my desire to remain involved deeply in the engineering side. The issues are all on their side, the cracks are forming in their solution designs, while I remain relevant and respected.
This is a rant over experience with past people.
There are jobs that need to be done in software engineering. How you divide it in roles and responsabilities change from company to company. Having an architect or not, just move the responsability of that role to someone else.
You gave the example that you went from Jquery front end to being a generalist that “knows and learns everything”. Is that the solution to every company? I’ll say it to you: it’s not.
Every company, every team, every product and every person is different. There is no solution fits-all, specially only because you had this experience in the past, it does not mean it works for everyone.
Thanks for sharing your opinion William.
This article is an invitation to rethink those roles and question their necessity. Whether an individual company or individual manager/engineer chooses a different path is irrelevant because this is the internet and YMMV. 🙂
Just wanted to say, this is an incredible and well-written article, that puts into words exactly how I feel, several years into my career as a developer who became an architect.
I actively try to avoid becoming an ITA, but annoyingly, my other architect peers resent me for my desire to remain involved deeply in the engineering side. The issues are all on their side, the cracks are forming in their solution designs, while I remain relevant and respected.