7 Essential Books for Every Software Architect

DZone is an ever-growing community of authors from various technical fields who have a wide range of skill-sets and share their knowledge with the rest of the development community. 

We asked our DZone Core community members to recommend books they swear helped them up-skill or improvise in their work. We received a list of awesome books that are not only helpful but are interesting reads. 

After Top 8 Recommended Books To Become a Better Programmer, this is part two of the series in which we have books that help Software Architects understand their project structure better and make more informed decisions as to the design of the project.

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The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

In a development world where modern-day applications evolve every day, it is very easy to lose sight of the main goal. There is a multitude of important things to focus on including quality, sustainability, security, and reliability while planning any requirement for an application. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande uses real-time examples to make sure architects never miss any important points to consider while planning. Learn from interesting stories, real-time scenarios, and don't forget to take your checklist to the next planning session.

Working Effectively With Legacy Code by Michael C. Feathers

Maintaining and adding to legacy code can be a time-consuming and expensive task. The horror stories of legacy code range far back. Working Effectively With Legacy Code goes into details of working with legacy code and adding and making updates without needing to update services entirely. If you are working with legacy code, this is the best book to up-skill and utilize all available resources efficiently.

Frank Buschmann's Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture (POSA)

Design patterns are a common way of determining software architecture. Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture, or POSA, is a guide for pattern-based software architecture for a project. This book covers architecture designs like Broker, Model View Controller, etc. POSA has five volumes, with the latest volume published in 2007. This is an excellent series to understand the pattern-oriented world of architecture.

Building Microservices: Designing Fine-Grained Systems by Sam Newman

Applications are evolving from huge, bulky monolith models to microservices. With microservices, changes can be made and deployed individually with bugs/errors getting pinpointed faster. This book covers the design perspective of having fine-grained applications in the project. Learn more about splitting a monolith, testing the microservices, and much more.

Clean Architecture: A Craftsman’s Guide to Software Structure and Design by Robert C. Martin

If you are an architect, an analyst, a project manager, or any member of a team where you influence the architectural designs and decisions of the project, Clean Architecture by Robert C. Martin is a must-read. The book goes into detail on the role of an architect, what to consider when making a decision, and the disciplines and practices of other professional architects. Understand software structure and make choices that will benefit the project in the long run.

Kleppmann's Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems

Data is something every project has to deal with. Uncomplicating the requirements in terms of data and implementing them using the many modern tools and applications available today is a challenging task if you are not aware of the right options that fit your project needs. Martin Kleppmann sheds light on this major part of development for software developers and architects, looking at how to manage data and what to choose from the vast list of options.

Solutions Architect’s Handbook: Kick-Start Your Solutions Architect Career by Learning Architecture Design Principles and Strategies

From topics covering the roles and responsibilities of a solution architect to DevOps, cloud, application modernization, microservices, and other frameworks to increase productivity, this book is a guide for a solution architect. If you are a solutions architect or planning to become one, this book will satisfy your curiosity with its wide range of topics from basic to advanced. It will keep you thinking ahead in the volatile world of modern software development.

Closing Thoughts

As technology evolves and advancements are introduced frequently, it is important to stay up to date with the latest developments and get in-depth knowledge about your area of work. Books are the best resources to achieve this as they cover all technicalities that stay relevant for years to come.

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