Software architecture is the structure or structures of a system, their elements, and the relationships between those elements. It is an abstraction of a software system. Software architecture is important because all software systems have an architecture, and that architecture is the foundation for the software system.
Software architecture provides a number of benefits, such as enabling and inhibiting quality attributes, allowing you to predict software system qualities, easing communication with stakeholders, and allowing you to more easily make changes. It also provides a reusable model that could be used in multiple software products, imposes implementation constraints that reduce complexity and minimizes developer errors, improves cost/effort estimates, and serves as training for new team members.
Software architects are technical leaders who are ultimately responsible for technical decisions, the architecture, and its documentation. They perform a number of duties and are expected to have knowledge of a variety of topics, both technical and non-technical. Although the role can be challenging, if you care about the software that you are working on and all of its stakeholders, then the software architect role can be extremely rewarding.
In the next chapter, we'll explore software architecture in an organization. Most software architects operate within the context of an organization, so it is important to understand the dynamics of developing software within one. The chapter will detail topics such as the various software architect roles you will typically find in an organization, software development methodologies that are used, working with project and configuration management, navigating office politics, and creating software product lines that leverage architectural reuse.