Software Architecture - Mastering It

[Anant Agarwalla]

Hi Simon,
I am currently a fresher just starting in the industry. This software architecture field caught my eye but I have been told that it will take years of experience to be good at it because a lot of people's work depends on it. What would be the time that would take me to become responsible to suggest a software architecture on my own? Does reading speed up the process? Wouldn't reading various cases on the subject help me cut down the experience needed?

Thanks in advance.

[elsadek Abdel]

Reading various cases on the subject won't help without an actual hands-on cases

[Simon Brown]

Reading will certainly help, but it's no substitute for gaining real-world experience. One of the big problems that we have with software development is that even the majority of existing software architects don't get to design software systems from scratch all that often, so actually getting experience can be hard. I would recommend pairing up with an existing architect as a way to fast-track gaining some experience. You could also do some architecture katas as a way to practice your software architecture skills.