Burk Hufnagel

Himanshu Ahuja wrote:Yes and if there are any tools available to do so

There are plenty of tools out there, like SpotBugs (successor to FindBugs) and SonarQube (with plugins), and most IDE's will support setting up coding standards and showing you when your code doesn't follow them.

corey haines wrote:Hi!

I think a lot of that depends on the constraints and people's familiarity with TDD. Most people that I ran into came to a coderetreat with the expectation that it was "a chance to practice or learn TDD," so they at least tried. Personally I always emphasized that a coderetreat is a great time to try new things, since the goal isn't to finish the implementation, nor even to get anywhere at all. If a single test is written, but it is a great test, then that session should be considered successful.

-Corey

Thank you for the response. I was hoping to leverage your experience and get a feel for TDD adoption around the globe. Based on what I've seen in Atlanta, GA, USA, it seems that TDD still isn't common (less than 50% use it) and that many senior developers don't want to try it because... fill in the blank -- while younger developers at least seem open to the idea, give it a shot and mostly find it valuable.

Liutauras Vilda wrote:I guess quite usual answer is when current implementation no longer works with new requirements. So really there is no quality evolution with an existing functionality. Which is of course sad.

But if the code no longer meets the requirements that means the new version behaves differently than the original code, so the change doesn't qualify as a refactoring. Right?

Liutauras Vilda wrote:Burk, have a cow for quality question. Let's wait and see what author has to say about that.

It's been a while since I last visited. I had to look up the significance of receiving a cow. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Campbell Ritchie wrote:Or whether they believe that getting the app working implies they have written good code

I've seen that a lot with experienced developers, but when I ask them how often they refactor their code, the smiles go away...

Corey,
I'm also wondering if you've noticed any correlation between the use of TDD and the quality of the code people produce, or whether they manage to get the game working at the end of the allotted time.

Thanks,
Burk

Corey,
In the excerpt, there are several examples of test people write while working on getting their programs to work. Based on what you've seen, do most of the participants follow some form of TDD? Have you seen a difference between less experienced developers and more experienced developers regarding TDD usage?

Thanks,
Burk

Welcome Alex and Jason. I hope your time here is fun and fruitful.
Burk
PS Hi Jeanne!

Mainak Biswas wrote:
I meant information on how to make best use of one's time; to keep oneself updated on the various technologies, processes etc. I understand there are tens of blogs, articles, magazines etc. However, one may not find time to read all of them, so what are the basic blogs, magazines, websites that an IT architect must follow. What discipline must an IT architect have to keep oneself abreast of all relevant developments?

Mainak,
Interesting questions. Because there are different types of architects, with different responsibilities, I don't think there's one answer that would cover all of them.

However your last question, the one concerning discipline, seems to answer itself. As an architect, you must be disciplined enough to spend time peeking up with what's going on in your field and continuing to learn and improve your skill set.

How does that sound?

Cheers,
Burk

sameer paradkar wrote:As an SME's that should come naturally and should be inherent but mentoring, learning, training has to be an ongoing processes.


Regards,
Sameer

Would you please respond to my question?

sameer paradkar wrote:Hey Burk,

        We had consolidated the domains and questions during the SME's reviews but we did update these details in the title later.

Regards,
Sameer

Sameer,
I was hoping to get you opinion on this topic. Given the popularity of microservices, it seems to me that for many architect positions, there's bound to be some questions about them.
Thank you,
Burk

Mainak Biswas wrote:The OCMJEA is a good starting point, that is for application architecture and not EA as the name says.

In this case, JEA stands for Java Enterprise Architect, meaning you're expected to design your solution using component from Java Enterprise Edition (JEE), as opposed to the Standard or Mobile editions.

Burk

Sameer,
I was reading through the questions people have posted, and it seems to me that more of your answers refer to SME's than architects. So I was wondering how you differentiate between the two positions/roles or do you see them as equivalent terms?  I can see how an architect could be considered a SME if the subject is architecture, but I think SME is more often used for business people or people who understand the business domain rather than technical folks. Would you mind sharing your thoughts about it?

Thanks!
Burk

Sameer,
Will you please reply, at least concerning your approach to helping developers understand the trade-offs between different NFRs.

Thank you,
Burk

Most of the developers, and a lot of architects, I know are NOT people persons. That's part of why they do so well working with a computer all day instead of interacting with other people, and I suspect it's part of why most techies don't like meetings.

That said, I think soft skills should be part of every developer and architect's training so that they can be more comfortable dealing with non-technical folks and presenting their ideas to groups - but I'm not familiar with any company or organization that's set up that way. Have you seen any place that makes soft skills training part of the developer/architect path?