Book Image

Becoming an Agile Software Architect

By : Rajesh R V
Book Image

Becoming an Agile Software Architect

By: Rajesh R V

Overview of this book

Many organizations have embraced Agile methodologies to transform their ability to rapidly respond to constantly changing customer demands. However, in this melee, many enterprises often neglect to invest in architects by presuming architecture is not an intrinsic element of Agile software development. Since the role of an architect is not pre-defined in Agile, many organizations struggle to position architects, often resulting in friction with other roles or a failure to provide a clear learning path for architects to be productive. This book guides architects and organizations through new Agile ways of incrementally developing the architecture for delivering an uninterrupted, continuous flow of values that meets customer needs. You'll explore various aspects of Agile architecture and how it differs from traditional architecture. The book later covers Agile architects' responsibilities and how architects can add significant value by positioning themselves appropriately in the Agile flow of work. Through examples, you'll also learn concepts such as architectural decision backlog,the last responsible moment, value delivery, architecting for change, DevOps, and evolutionary collaboration. By the end of this Agile book, you'll be able to operate as an architect in Agile development initiatives and successfully architect reliable software systems.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
1
Section 1: Understanding Architecture in the Agile World
Free Chapter
2
Chapter 1: Looking through the Agile Architect's Lens
4
Section 2: Transformation of Architect Roles in Agile
8
Section 3: Essential Knowledge to Become a Successful Agile Architect
15
Section 4: Personality Traits and Organizational Influence

Allocating capacity for prioritization

This section will explain how to use capacity allocation to ensure technical backlog items are also prioritized with business backlog items.

Developing long-lasting, healthy systems requires well-balanced backlog distribution between functional and technical backlog items. Inclining more toward functionality increases operational overheads, and dents an organization's ability to respond to customer needs rapidly. Philippe Kruchten used the zipper metaphor to emphasize the importance of weaving functional and architectural activities together in the IEEE paper Agility and Architecture: Can They Coexist?. He observed interleaving architecture elements in the plan is essential to avoid accidental architecture.

In agile teams, often friction exists between the product owner and architects while prioritizing features for development, as illustrated in the following diagram:

Figure 6.5 – Friction between architecture...