Monthly Archives: June 2005

Arnon Rotem-Gal-Oz has set up an interesting new site / blog dedicated to software architecture. Of particular note, he’s trying to put some detail on the architecture “process” which is often negelcted as a single box on the development process picture. His approach has the name SPAMMED, catchy, but might cause the odd problem with email filters 🙂

In an interesting echo of my last piece (Why Software Isn’t Like Building Construction), Scott Ambler has analysed bureaucratic processes as a response to management fear about what can go wrong in software development. His conclusion is that these processes only give the illusion of addressing the underlying fear. His article is well worth reading.

Many software development and management methods are founded on a basic assumption – that constructing software is rather like building a bridge or a house. Once we’ve “done the design”, actually generating the software ought to be a completely predictable, relatively low-skilled process. However four decades of failure to achieve this vision might suggest that we should revisit
the assumption.

In a paper entitled “The New Methodology” Martin Fowler, the guru of object-oriented development, suggests a couple of reasons why this might be.

My article answers Martin’s, suggesting a couple of other considerations, and whether we have to completely abandon the physical construction analogy as a result.